Putting design to work to help our medical workers
James (design technician) at work with the laser cutter
Design rises to the challenge
Our Design Faculty teachers have been working hard to ensure that students have fun and easy to follow activities to help keep students engaged and learning throughout the current health crisis.
James Dutton, our fantastic Design Faculty technician, has gone one stage further and designed and produced hundreds of surgical mask straps for healthcare workers.
This was based on a design from a Canadian boy scout who 3D printed a mask strap to stop the elastic hurting the ears of healthcare workers and cleaners. One of our own students, Joel Taylor (yr10) also made one for his dad using a 3D printer he won in a national design competition.
Joel’s parents got in touch with other healthcare worker parents and they also said they would love a mask strap too. To meet the demand James redesigned the original strap so that we could use the school’s laser cutter and some of the plastic we have in stock to make as many mask straps as we can.
This a great example of the power of design and collaborative creative problem solving with students, parents and teachers working together to help our healthcare workers as they support those with COVID-19.
The first batches are now ready to go out for testing at Royal Melbourne and St Vincent’s hospitals.
If you, or any family members, friends or colleagues would like some re-usable surgical mask straps then please contact Peter Murphy with quantities and your address.