chicagotribune--2020-06-03--With schools shut down, teacher at Chicago’s Lane Tech designs, manufactures face shield

“ My first thought , when I heard about all of the shortages of ( personal protective equipment ) because @ @ @ @ @ , ’ How can I take my dormant digital resources and put them to use @ @ @ @ @ , who has designed a plastic face shield , which in recent weeks has been @ @ @ @ @ than 8,000 essential workers at hospitals , nursing homes and other facilities across Illinois .

Jeff Solin, a Lane Technical High School teacher, wears a face shield he designed and is producing for medical professionals and first responders on April 1, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Since the coronavirus sent Lane Tech College Prep High School’s 4,500 students off campus back in March, computer science teacher Jeff Solin is using his expertise and high-tech equipment to make a difference.
“My first thought, when I heard about all of the shortages of (personal protective equipment) because of the coronavirus, was, ’How can I take my dormant digital resources and put them to use?'" said Solin, who has designed a plastic face shield, which in recent weeks has been manufactured and distributed to more than 8,000 essential workers at hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities across Illinois.
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Solin, who has joined forces with officials at DePaul University and the nonprofit Illinois PPE Network, has also enlisted private companies to assist the effort, including Triangle Dies and Supplies in Batavia, whose owner, J.C. Marovich, designed a steel die used to stamp out the plastic shields.
Not unlike a giant cookie cutter, the die allows a machine to stamp out the shields from large sheets of plastic at a rate of 1,800 shields an hour, Solin said.
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As a member of the burgeoning sector of Chicago-area educators and manufacturers who are volunteering their time to create PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic, Solin said his shield design was first “clinically tested” by a team of local physicians.
Jeff Solin, a Lane Technical High School teacher, with a face shield he designed and is producing for medical professionals and first responders. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
“We had them test the first shield out, and we actually revised the design when one of the doctors told us that it was too long, and if they were bending down to intubate a patient, it would hit the doctor’s chest,” Solin explained.
Solin said above all, he is eager to share his face shield design and provide details online, which will allow anyone who has the needed technical equipment to produce the products.
While Solin said he remains committed to his primary vocation, which until the end of the school year means heading up online computer science classes for 150 students at Lane Tech, he is hopeful his face shields will protect essential workers who are on the front lines of the pandemic.
“Maybe, if we can help save the life of even just one person, and help protect so many more, it’s the right thing to do, and something I want to be a part of,” Solin said.
kcullotta@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kcullotta