A Clear View for Health Care Workers

As the coronavirus rages on in Southern California, team members from across Celestron came together to deliver much-needed face shields to medical staff at a nearby hospital. The shields are already hard at work protecting our medical heroes.

The Celestron shields feature a band made on our 3D printer, an elastic strap, and a clear face covering.

“We started looking to help right away but couldn’t figure out how. Then a friend of mine who is a doctor at Harbor-UCLA Hospital told me they were having issues getting PPE,” said Vice President of Operations Amir Cannon. “At that same time, I came across files for 3D printing the Josef Prusa face shield. I spoke with [Celestron CEO] Corey Lee and he gave the green light to use Celestron funds to help the hospital.”

With the 3D STEP files in hand, Engineering Manager Rick Garrison set to work on the printing.

“We personalized it and made some mechanical changes to make it easier to 3D-print in our printer,” Garrison explained. “We then figured out how to put together the 3 components: head brim, elastic strap and clear shield. Chris Ball from the Purchasing team sourced the components.”

Once a working prototype was complete, it was on to assembly. Celestron Operations employee Danny Fuentes carefully assembled each shield.

“He was cutting face shields at home! When they were done, Danny sanitized and bagged them up,” Cannon said. “Then the doctor picked them up directly.”

With the first batch out the door, the team is already hard at work on a second delivery. Celestron plans to continue producing shields as long as they are needed.

“It’s great to think that Celestron and our employees can take part in the fight against the coronavirus and help to protect our health care workers,” Lee said.