3-D Printed Mask Clips

Submitted by Ayan Gupta

When the pandemic hit, Ayan Gupta and his classmates from Tesla STEM High School began brainstorming ways they could help their community. They came up with the idea to 3-D print clips to help speed up the mask making process. Their project has been a huge success, and Ayan was kind enough to share more about his team’s work.

“This idea was sparked just through some casual discussion. I pitched the idea to my local high school tech teacher and within 74 hours all the school’s 3D Printers were transported to my garage. From there we were printing “clips” that helped us expedite assembly of face masks/N95 Coverings. This was initially a very “messy” process and the team and I tried to coordinate material hand offs, etc. while being socially distanced. Eventually after getting some mentorship from local supply chain experts we set up a solid schedule for material transport and production. We ended up producing over 9,000 pieces of PPE.

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We asked Ayan what message he hopes to share to others through his project, and he said, “The message I want to share is regardless of the resources available to one, there is a way we can all be proactive to make a difference locally.”