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BREADCRUMB

NOTRE DAME RESPONDS TO NEED FOR PPE

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March 30, 2020; updated April 5, 2020

Notre Dame parents, teachers and alumni working overtime to help 3D-print components used for desperately needed face shields for medical personal protective equipment.
 

3D-printed visor frames will be used to assemble face shields for medical personnel.

 

Update: Currently, there are more than 10 members of the greater Notre Dame family working on 3D-printing components for face shields. The team plans to have at least 1,500 face shields completed soon with ongoing deliveries to the Waterford Fire Department. Fire Chief Matt Covey offered to distribute them to local EMS, fire, police and hospital facilities. Chief Covey noted that they also are in need of bottled water and healthy snacks.

Anyone interested in helping out can drop off water and snacks to the Waterford Township Fire Department at 495 Crescent Lake Rd. Waterford, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., M-F.

 
When Notre Dame parent Mike Deck reached out to the Notre Dame community with a plea to help create components for face shields used by medical personnel working with COVID-19 patients in hospitals and other medical facilities, Louise Palardy, an NDPMA science teacher, leapt into action.
 
"Mike's wife, who works in health care, said they had a great need for face shields," said Palardy, who also works as Notre Dame's STEM specialist and robotics teams coordinator. "He was able to take care of the needs at his wife's facility with his own 3D printer, but he wondered if we could help others in the area with the same type of 3D-printed visor frames."
 

It turns out that Fabian Fregoli, M.D., a school parent and board member who is chief medical officer at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, also said his hospital was in need of help with face masks.

NDPMA's Louise Palardy is using a 3D printer at home to produce the frames.


"Fabian said they were critically short of supplies, so I forwarded the .STL (stereolithography) file that Mr. Deck sent me to Fabian's son Giuseppe as a test and he printed one on their home 3D printer," Palardy said. "He checked it out and said it was really comfortable. So now we're discussing what kind of plastic shields will be most effective for the visor frames we print." 

Palardy's home 3D printer, which is the same model as the one in Notre Dame's robotics center, is now up and running in high production. She had access to about seven spools of the filament used in the printer and figures she will be able to print about 250 visors with supplies on hand. 

Notre Dame freshman Aaron Palardy wears a face shield similar to the first 100 that were delivered this week to St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital in Pontiac. 

 

"Now I am hoping there are a number of people in our community who have 3D printers and filament on hand and could help support this project. I'm very happy to share the .STL file with them," Palardy said. "The print requires at least a 6" X 6" 3D printer bed."

Palardy told Fregoli that she could supply 500 of the visor components, so she's looking to the NDPMA community for any help with the 3D printing of the visors as well as with the procurement and attachment of the clear shields. 

"My son, Andrew NDP'12, who works as a computer engineer at Williams International in Pontiac, said they also have a group of 3D printers and he is checking to see if they can print the visors there as well," she said.

Meanwhile, Palardy is keeping just as busy with her online classes. 

"Online teaching is going well and I have been using Flip Grid to stay connected with my students," she said. "The students create short videos to reply to prompts and assignments, and I'm so glad that I chose this tool since I still get to see the students' faces and hear their voices!"

If you can help Palardy with this 3D project, please contact her at lpalardy@ndpma.org.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

Follow Notre Dame on Twitter at @NDPMA.

About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three school are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.