The Department of Science and Technology is stepping up its mass production of 5,000 face shields a day for health workers and other frontliners battling the highly-contagious novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The agency's Metals Industry Research and Development Center, led by its executive director, engineer Robert Dizon, is now doing mass production of face shields using injection mold.
“Initially, we produced 3D printed face shields as our stop-gap measure. But we wanted to help meet the high demand for face shields. That is why we geared up for mass production," Dizon said.
"We fabricated the mold for the face shield frames at the DOST-MIRDC, and we mass produce using a technology called plastic injection. The frame and the acetate together make up the face shield, and these are secured with a garter,” he added.
Initially, MIRDC could only produce 40 to 50 face shields per day through the Additive Manufacturing Center using five 3D printers.