While most of Adam Gainer’s family works in the medical field, the career path never interested him. Instead, the 35-year-old pursued engineering and design; he’s now working on a master’s degree in product design and innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University. But the global pandemic has thrust him, and thousands of other engineers, designers, and self-styled “makers,” into the healthcare world, producing gear for medical workers on the front lines like modern-day Rosie the Riveters.
“I can’t make N95 masks, I can’t make ventilators, but I sure as hell can make face shields,” says Gainer, who’s also making 3D-printed door openers with the organization Shield Healthcare Workers. “Elastic, foam, glue, I did that ever since I was in kindergarten.”
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