In the old days, Spartans used to forge shields out of metal to protect themselves in battle, but today, they’re using 3-D printers to create them, and protect people from a potentially deadly disease.
“The University as a whole put out a request to all the research laboratories, and everyone for personal, and protective equipment that we could donate from our labs that could help out,” said MSU Asst. Professor of Pharmacology, and Toxicology for the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nathan Tykocki.
In the request was a note asking for 3D printers, and that’s when Nathan Tykocki knew he could do something more.
“I wrote to the group that was in charge of this, and I said hey I have a printer. I would love to print some things. What do you need,” said Tykocki.
That’s when Tykocki, and a few people came together to start making the masks.
Today, more than 30 people are involved in different aspects including departments like medicine, engineering, science, arts, and agriculture. They all use their resources to help medical professionals, who right now are fighting on the front lines.
For Tykocki, he’s glad he can use his set of skills to do his part.
“I’m closely related to medical research, but I am not a clinician. I don’t have skills that can help people in the clinic, and help them feel better, but this I can do. I can 3D print things, so that’s really awesome is having something in my hands that I know is going to be useful,” said Tykocki.
The teams together have made more than 200 masks, and they plan on continuing to make them for as long as they are needed.
