North Cook News

An Oakton Community College student is using 3D printers to make personal protective face shields to donate to Chicagoland hospitals.

Matt Slizys says the face shields will protect health care workers from COVID-19 and other contagious illnesses, according to Patch. 

"Being able to do something to help others with this PPE (person protective equipment) movement is simply an amazing feeling," Slizys told Patch. "Instead of sitting in and quarantining myself, I'm able to be productive with my days and make a difference."

He came up with the idea to produce face shields after finding a social media group that was doing the same thing, Slizys said. 

"I saw the Facebook page had some files to make PPE and with some help I was able to modify the design to make the equipment fit better and easier to produce," he said.

Slizys is working with Oakton's Manufacturing Technology Department staff members, whose goal is to produce dozens of shields. Oakton Community College is seeking a businesses to partner with that will donate more material for Slizys and the faculty members to make more face shields, Patch reported. 

Daniel Laurence, an engineering instructor at the college, helped Slizys get the project started.

"Daniel made a design that combined different elements of designs we had looked at online," Slizys told Patch. "His mastery of SolidWorks produced several iterations of the design that ended up leading to the making one of the most comfortable, one-size-fits-all shields. With his help, we are able to accomplish so much more than if I tried to do this alone."

Slizys graduated from Oakton Community College in 2019 with an Associate in Applied Science degree in Manufacturing Technology, according to Patch. While in school, Slizys was a student-employee for the Manufacturing and Technology Department. He still works at the community college while he takes classes and waits to transfer to Purdue University to pursue reprogramming robots or working with industrial 3D printers, Patch reported. 

"Oakton helped me to gain valuable hands-on experience, confidence and knowledge to be able to create projects that can help the world," he said.