Engineering lab technician at K-State Polytechnic helps make face shields for local healthcare facilities
Even though Dustin Keiswetter has had to spend time away from his lab on the Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus due to the coronavirus pandemic, his problem-solving skills and knack for design are continuing to be utilized.
Keiswetter, a 2009 graduate of mechanical engineering technology at K-State Polytechnic and now an engineering lab technician for the same program, has joined an effort to contribute safeguarding supplies to healthcare facilities in Salina. Requests were being made to local educational institutions for production assistance and K-State Polytechnic wanted to show its support for the community by answering the call.
In collaboration with Neil Ward, a faculty member at Kansas Wesleyan University, Keiswetter began researching the most common, yet efficient design pattern for the laser cutter the two had access to. While supplies were scarce – Keiswetter said the plastic material they needed was like “gold” – they found some online as well as discovered some, surprisingly, at Keiswetter’s home. His son Brody had a large piece of plastic sheet material leftover from a craft project on which he had been working, so he donated it to the cause.
The first set of materials produced was headbands. The three-piece design contained notches in the back for head size adjustment and punched holes in the front for the face shield attachment. After taking only minutes for the laser cutter to etch out each creation, Keiswetter and Ward assembled the headbands and they were delivered to Salina Regional Health Center where clear, plastic shields were attached.
“The church that Neil and I attend graciously let us use their laser cutter, which is extremely similar to the one we have in the mechanical engineering technology lab on campus. Rather than taking hours for these parts to be finished as on a 3D printer, the laser cutter took only minutes. We felt like we were making good use of our time and resources by being able to answer these requests with a quick turnaround,” said Keiswetter.
The second batch that was produced contained both headbands and face shields, which were made from the same material as the plastic covers that protect reports or act as dividers in a binder. Those supplies were donated to the Salina Family Healthcare Center. In total, Keiswetter and Ward generated almost 50 pieces.
“There are huge companies across the United States that are retooling their facilities for mass production of these materials, but until they are able to ramp up manufacturing, I feel like every day people have been filling that gap with their sewing machines, 3D printers and laser cutters,” said Keiswetter. “I feel proud and honored to have leveraged my knowledge and passion for creating things to help those in need. I feel like I’m doing my part.”
