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Local HS student 3D prints masks for hospitals

A teenager in Cumming is working round the clock to make PPE for first responders.

CUMMING, Ga. — Keya Brahmbhatt is a junior at Alliance Academy for Innovation in Cumming. All her classes are currently online, thanks to COVID-19, but the 16-year-old is still doing her own hands-on learning.

“I'm 3D printing ear savers and face shields,” she said. “I had a 3D printer because I'm really interested in technology, and I had some supplies. So I thought ‘why not use them to help people?’”

With her 3D printer, she was able to make about seven ear savers every 2.5 hours, Brahmbhatt said. After a couple of days of working round the clock, she said she donated everything to Emory John’s Creek Hospital.

“The nurses there really liked them,” Brahmbhatt said. “I thought if I had more printers and more materials I could do this a lot faster and I can make a lot more of them. So I started a GoFundMe page.

She raised over $2,000 and immediately purchased four more 3D printers. She started running them all at the same time, making not only ear savers but also face shields.

“I tested those out, and the printing took a long time to actually perfect because I was not really good at it,” Brahmbhatt said. “I kind of had to figure it out myself. My dad really helped me with it too. So I started assembling them, and I made a donation form online as well as getting in contact with as many hospitals as I could. I got a lot of good responses from there.”

Credit: Keya Brahmbhatt

Brahmbhatt said she now has a much better understanding of how the 3D printers work, and she’s significantly ramped up her production, printing 9 ear savers and one face shield every hour.

“I set a timer every hour and I just stop whatever I'm doing and go reset the printers so I can make as many as possible,” she said. “I don't stop when I go to sleep. I still set an alarm every hour and a half, and then I wake up and I do it, and then I go back.”

With AP exams coming up next week, one can only wonder why a teenager would spend so much time making protective gear for hospital workers.

Credit: Keya Brahmbhatt

“Me being 16 years old, there's not a lot I can do,” Brahmbhatt said. “I believe hospitals should have more funding and they should have more resources, but there's not a lot I can do by just sitting here and saying ‘yeah, we need more funding for them.’ So any way that I can help, I'm happy to. I know a lot of people who are donating their handmade masks that they sewed. I can't sew to save my life, so that definitely wasn't an option. I was already really into technology. At Alliance, I'm a cybersecurity and mechatronics student. I'm in leadership robotics and everything, so technology is kind of like my area. So I said ‘why not?’ I have these resources and people can use them. So if there's anything I can do to help, then I should be doing that. Especially since it's either that or just sit at home and do nothing. I might as well make good use of my time.”

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