SUNY Poly faculty and staff are manufacturing parts for face shields to help with the national shortage of personal protective equipment facing medical workers.

SUNY Poly Empire Innovation Professor of Nanobioscience Dr. Nate Cady, who also serves as executive director of the SUNY Applied Materials Research Institute (SAMRI), in Albany, is using 3D printing to make parts. The around the clock operation is based on a design from a team SUNY New Paltz; The New Paltz team is then assemblying and distributing the face shields, according to a release from SUNY Poly.

“For me, this is a great opportunity to be part of the larger effort against COVID-19, and I am thankful for our partnership with SUNY New Paltz which provided the plans that have been successfully used to print this invaluable PPE,” said Dr. Cady.

Dr Nate Cady (credit: SUNY Poly)
Dr Nate Cady (credit: SUNY Poly)
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Additionally, 3D labs at SUNY Poly's Center for Global Advanced Manufacturing (CGAM) in Utica are prototyping the New Paltz design and will be able to produce 50 face shields during normal working hours each day, officials said, with the potential to make hundreds more each day.

Money Oneida County had earmarked for a recently canceled Robitcs event SUNY Poly is being directed toward the PPE effort, County  Executive Anthony Picente said during his daily briefing on Wednesday.

The local effort is also getting a boost from PPE contributions from the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Marcy, officials said.

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