Like most other college students during the COVID 19 pandemic, Matt Fox is home from school completing his classes on-line. As a recent Timothy graduate and son of orchestra teacher Linda Fox, he heard about Timothy’s effort to make face shields for area hospitals. Turns out, Matt had the skills needed to contribute to the effort.

“I have been designing on my 3D printer for a year,” said Matt, who learned how to use the equipment during an engineering internship at Senior Flexonics in Bartlett, Illinois. “When this pandemic hit, I knew there must be something that I could print to help hospital staff in the community.”

Because he was using a 3D printer instead of a laser cutter, Matt used a different face shield design than Timothy’s faculty. Both designs were approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. Jon Hamelinck, Timothy’s Innovation and Design Lab (IDL) teacher who spearheaded the face shield effort, noted that Matt joined the group in the IDL classroom and not only assisted with the laser cutter face shields but also contributed 50 face shields of his own using his 3D printer.

“I was happy to find a way to get the masks I made into the hands of the hospital staff,” said Matt, who is a junior majoring in mechanical engineering at Grand Canyon University.