In the past months, the United States rushed to implement a national response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The severity of this pandemic cannot be overstated, as the death toll has soared beyond 100,000 in the U.S. alone. In light of recent developments, a campus-wide effort is underway to produce 3D-printed personal protective equipment (aka PPE). The Makerspace at Bellevue College was once an engineering workshop open to all students. Now the facility has been converted into a 3D printing station, where a few students and staff are working diligently to output as many face shields as possible.
The Makerspace is overseen by the director of the RISE learning institute: Michael Reese. During an interview, he explained to me that despite widespread material constraints, his team is rendering their time and energy to do whatever they can in this…
