CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The NASCAR Research and Development Center’s five 3D printers – including two delivered in February and installed less than two weeks ago – are typically focused on composite parts and working on an updated stock car.
But when racing came to a stop March 13 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a handful of NASCAR engineers wondered if the printers could be used to address the shortage of personal protective equipment for health care workers. They contacted suppliers, came up with designs for face shields the printers could make and met with Novant Health, which serves medical facilities in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
Now the printers are running 18 hours a day with approximately eight engineers volunteering their time to oversee production from approximately 7 a.m. until midnight. The newest printer can produce three face shields every 2 hours.
“That’s the one we try to keep running almost nonstop,” Eric Jacuzzi, senior director of aerodynamics and vehicle performance for NASCAR, told The Associated Press. “We have people that are actually having their teenage children help with cutting the clear facial part as part of their volunteer work at home, six of us running the machines and more people reaching out to help.”
NASCAR is donating the face shields as part of the charitable acts it does every year. The sanctioning body has followed Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota – NASCAR’s three manufacturers – as companies from the automotive industry that have pivoted production to PPE during the global crisis.