The industrial technology department at Bakersfield College manufactured face shields on April 29, using their 3D printer, for healthcare workers who have been in the front lines combating COVID-19 . 

BC staff Darren Willis, Anthony Cordova, and Cindy Collier all agreed that they wanted to provide help for those healthcare workers, and facilities, who are in need of supplies. They worked alongside BC student, David Perez, to produce these face shields.  

“For the safety of all parties concerned, we thought it was best to have one person at a time working on the production, so we have one student worker (Perez) who is going in resetting the process every 24 hours. All of the work is being done on the BC main campus in the design center,” Willis said.  

The 3D printer can print about one face shield an hour, and they are producing about 150 visors per week. The first 100 shields were already sent out, with 50 of them sent to Clinica Sierra Vista and the other 50 to BC’s outlying areas. Darren Willis and his team also manufactured these materials called “ear savers.”  

These ear savers are clips that go on the back of a person’s head in replacement of the elastic on the face masks. They take off the pressure from the elastic and have made the face shields more comfortable to wear. 

“Cindy was really concerned that the outlying areas, such as Arvin, Delano, and Buttonwillow, are not going to have access to the protective equipment so much as the people in town. Since we have so many students that came in from these areas, she wants to make sure that those clinics and medical practitioners have what they need,” Willis said.  

The Strong Workforce Program coordinators were providing and funding the materials needed to continue this program. There was not an exact number said as to how many will be produced, but BC will continue to support those that are in need of these mask.