Queensborough joins fight against coronavirus with production of life-saving medical equipment

Production of life-saving personal protection equipment (PPE) to help combat COVID-19 is underway today at Queensborough Community College.

As New York approaches the pandemic apex, the College is manufacturing headbands for face shields, as part of a cooperative program among colleges and universities nationwide to develop safety equipment that will reduce the risk of infection for thousands of healthcare workers.

Queensborough, collaborating with Stony Brook University, is also helping with the production of 5,000 face shields by laser-cutting special plastic sheets that will form transparent masks. Stony Brook University Hospital’s frontline healthcare workers are expected to start receiving the protectors during the coming days.

“Queensborough’s capability and commitment to securing resources for those who most need them in our community is strong. We are pleased to be able to make a difference by providing safety equipment that is critically important for those who are putting their lives on the line every day in the fight against coronavirus,” said Dr. Timothy G. Lynch, President of Queensborough Community College

“We are eager to utilize Queensborough’s state-of-the art resources to address this unprecedented health threat,” noted Dr. Lynch.

Memorial Sloan Kettering is also consulting with the College on the development and production of specialized swabs that could be used for patient examinations and virus testing.

Michael Lawrence, an educator in Queensborough’s Engineering Technology Department, tested various designs, materials and PPE prototypes last week. The headbands are produced on Queensborough’s Stratasys J450™ 3D printer.

“Our contributions will allow us, even while under enormous restriction of movement, to produce desperately needed components for personal protection equipment that local professionals need,” Lawrence added.

With the help of a $1.5 million CUNY 2020 grant awarded in 2014, Queensborough Community College installed world-class 3D printing equipment on its campus, executing hundreds of projects since then that have provided student-based solutions to real-world problems. Queensborough, for example, has helped New York hospitals and other major medical organizations achieve greater patient outcomes by printing 3D anatomical models and by prototyping custom surgical tools.