AVHS senior Brent Werder (‘20) has not wasted any time during his stay at home throughout remote learning. While some seniors have been choosing to lay low for their last semester of their high school careers, Brent has been working hard to 3D print masks for local hospitals and members of the community. 

“I’m essentially 3D printing personal protective equipment, or PPE, for hospitals in the area that are running low due to the corona virus. I’m sure you’ve heard in the news that areas like New York are getting hit especially hard, but people don’t realize that even our local hospitals are running out of these essential materials really quickly. What we can do to help is print these 3D-printed face shields that serve as a secondary line of defense for nurses, and that’s what we’re trying to do. They’re relatively inexpensive to make, so it works out for all of us.” 

Werder has been using his personal, at-home 3D printer to get masks out as fast as possible, to as many people as possible. 

“The first mask that I printed was…about five or six weeks ago. Ever since then, it’s been growing exponentially. I even got a second working printer; I actually have five or six at my house but only two of them are currently working and running as they should.” 

He has actually pursued 3D printing as an activity outside of the outbreak; some of his other projects include a ‘Buddha Shrek,’ customizable air pod cases, and a surplus of small, 3D printed cacti. 

“3D printing is like a hobby for me, I love doing it, and anytime I can do it to help someone, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. The fact that my work can actually really help these people in need and I can basically do it with the materials I already have at my house works of perfectly. I’m really happy to help, seriously.” 

As any person involved in a large project should expect, Werder ran into some complications while attempting to print masks on such a large scale. 

“3D printing sounds pretty futuristic and all that, but the limitations are pretty huge. For example, you can’t print things with an overhang; if it has one, it will droop down while it’s printing and it won’t work. There’s little things like that you have to work around. You could send the machine code, but sometimes, just like a normal paper printer, it has jams and sometimes doesn’t work, and materials get wasted. There’s like a million things that are able to go wrong, but you have to roll with the punches, you know?” 

One of Brent’s biggest accomplishments throughout this process has reportedly been his work with Sutter Health Hospital. 

“The most satisfying part is when you finally get a design just perfect, and it just works. It fits, it stays on your face, and it does what it’s supposed to. In terms of life events, however, I guess one of my favorite parts of doing this has been working with Sutter Health. They requested 100 masks, just from me. It was just such an awesome feeling. I mean, I’ve been sending these masks to places all over California, for example ‘Operation Sheilds Up’ in Rockland, as well as larger venues in Sunnyvale. In those other cases, I don’t really get to see much of what happens, but in terms of Sutter Health, they contacted me, and they send me pictures of them wearing it. They’re actually using them! It’s pretty awesome.” 

What started out as a small hobby was able to blossom into a creative project that has helped hundreds of people stay safe. 

“I think whatever your hobbies might be, you can find a way to make those useful to others who really need it. You may think of it as just fun trinkets and projects, but they can actually be quite useful. And please donate! Any organization that I mentioned is doing some really great stuff, and they could use the resources, so please don’t hesitate to donate.” 

Please visit brentwerder.design for more information regarding Brent and his work, and continue to stay safe.