• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Charities/Community
  • Arts
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Events
  • About us
  • Subscribe
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Boston Sports Institute, Wellesley

Natick teen’s 3D printing gift: Masks for medical staff on coronavirus duty

March 22, 2020 by Bob Brown 1 Comment

Since a very young age, Natick’s Christian de Weck carried around an “idea” notebook with him in which he wrote down possible inventions. While the 19-year-old MIT freshman might not have envisioned a need back then for cranking out medical masks, his brain was working in a way that prepped him to spring into action during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The mechanical engineering student has set up a 3D printer workshop in his family’s dining room, where he so far has pumped out 20 masks for use at Mass General Hospital.

“This effort started when I saw on the news that the president of MGH tweeted that they were in desperate need of masks and were asking anyone with 3D printers or any other fabrication capability to help out,” says de Weck, who is using his own materials and donating the masks to the healthcare facility. “I figured that since I have two 3D printers at home, they could be put to good use making masks for people who need them… I am willing to give them  to any facility that might want/need them.”

3d masks
3D printed masks: Fashionable and essential

 

mask 3d

 

Uprooted, but not down

Like other students whose campuses have been cleared and in-person classes canceled, de Weck has seen his life uprooted by the pandemic. And he’s well aware of how it is affecting the lives of so many others directly and indirectly. “Many families including my own have been staying at home for the past few weeks, not to mention many services are shutting down and people risk unemployment/eviction. I also believe this virus exposes some of the flaws within our current healthcare system and overall society. Hopefully, this virus will allow people to see and rectify these issues…”

The Beaver Country Day School grad is using 2 Qidi dual extruding 3D printers, 1 of which he received as a birthday present a couple of years ago, and another he came by more recently.

“The masks are being made from a plastic filament called polylactic acid (PLA) that is commonly used in 3D printers. This material “is easy to melt and shape, but should also be adequate for protecting the user of the mask,” de Weck says.

“It takes close to an hour-and-a-half to print each mask, then roughly three-quarters of an hour to make the filter and cap. There’s additional assembly involved as well, such as using warm water to shape the masks and attaching elastic straps.

 

Making mom proud

mask 3d
Who could that be?

The 19-year-old’s volunteer efforts come as no surprise to his mother, Lynn, who says as a youngster he was always asking what he might invent to help her around the house.

She references an independent study he did in his junior year in high school in which “he designed and 3D printed a prosthetic arm for students, complete with a thumb drive in the thumb and a ruler on the hand edge and a pencil case on the forearm. 3D prosthetics are cheaper to print for kids who are growing and need to be refitted often.”

She couldn’t be prouder about his latest volunteer effort. The de Wecks made their first mask delivery on Sunday to a friend who is an MGH doctor.

“[Christian’s] creativeness, combined with caring for others and always wanting to help is the fabric of who he is,” she says.

Meanwhile, her son expects more filament to arrive on Monday. “I plan to make as many masks as I can until my PLA filament runs out,” he says.

 

Subscribe to The Swellesley Report’s daily email

More:  Sustain Swellesley

print

Share

Filed Under: COVID-19, Education, Health, Natick Report, Volunteering

Comments

  1. Monica says

    April 2, 2020 at 1:48 pm

    Thank you for your article, Bob. Do you know if this student has a Go Fund Me page to keep himself in production or has uploaded his design somewhere for others to 3D print?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Write Ahead

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]
Wellesley Square ad
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
Admit Fit, Wellesley
image of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click here to read our Natick Report

Natick Report

Events Calendar

« January 2021 » loading...
S M T W T F S
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
Tue 26

Rum tasting and history talk

January 26 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Wed 27

Online history lecture: Petticoat Whalers

January 27 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Thu 28

Banking on Our Value panel discussion

January 28 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Most Read Posts

  • "I Care a Lot" movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Wellesley Police log: Rocky relationship between neighbors; laptop goes missing from home; money gone from locker
  • Pinnacle Residential Properties: the concept of home & roots
  • Wellesley Business Buzz: Local restaurants get state grants; get or renew your Business Certificate
  • Wellesley summer camp listings 2021 — find the experience of a lifetime

Pages

  • Wellesley coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads
  • Wellesley, Mass., fishing spots
  • Please support our advertisers—they support us
  • Embracing diversity in Wellesley
  • Wellesley, MA Police logs
  • Wellesley Choral Society
  • Wellesley College Notable Alumnae
  • Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
  • Wellesley outdoor art gallery
  • Wellesley restaurants offering take-out and delivery
  • Wellesley, Massachusetts restaurant — Amarin of Thailand

Recent Comments

  • Susanne Conover on Wellesley Health Dept. COVID-19 update: Talking vaccines, fielding complaints & working around the clock
  • Kourosh Farboodmanesh on Opinion: Massachusetts needs to introduce renewable energy programs in every town and city
  • devin on Wellesley Police log: Rocky relationship between neighbors; laptop goes missing from home; money gone from locker
  • Bob Brown on “I Care a Lot” movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Juli on “I Care a Lot” movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (4)
  • Animals (377)
  • Antiques (48)
  • Art (534)
  • Beyond Wellesley (28)
  • Books (343)
  • Business (1,358)
  • Camp (1)
  • Careers/jobs (44)
  • Churches (72)
  • Clubs (207)
  • Construction (280)
  • Dump (113)
  • Education (2,880)
    • Babson College (239)
    • Bates Elementary School (14)
    • Dana Hall School (29)
    • Fiske Elementary School (6)
    • Hardy Elementary School (33)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (34)
    • MassBay (47)
    • Schofield Elementary School (20)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (1)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (9)
    • Upham Elementary School (30)
    • Wellesley College (598)
    • Wellesley High School (884)
    • Wellesley Middle School (195)
  • Embracing diversity (38)
  • Entertainment (722)
  • Environment (667)
  • Fashion (133)
  • Finance (13)
  • Fire (141)
  • Food (327)
  • Fundraising (559)
  • Gardens (136)
  • Government (386)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
  • Health (737)
    • COVID-19 (134)
  • History (358)
  • Holidays (365)
  • Houses (118)
  • Humor (45)
  • Kids (814)
  • Law (3)
  • Letters to the Editor (6)
  • Media (63)
  • METCO (5)
  • Military (3)
  • Morses Pond (96)
  • Music (543)
  • Natick Report (27)
  • Neighbors (243)
  • Obituaries (58)
  • Outdoors (582)
  • Parenting (60)
  • Police (688)
    • Crime (345)
  • Politics (534)
  • Real estate (286)
  • Religion (127)
  • Restaurants (302)
  • Safety (142)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Senior citizens (107)
  • Shopping (121)
  • Sports (897)
  • STEM (104)
  • Technology (154)
  • Theatre (383)
  • Town Meeting (22)
  • Transportation (209)
  • Travel (11)
  • Uncategorized (1,205)
  • Volunteering (317)
  • Weather (161)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (258)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (5)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed

© 2021 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login