What can you do with a refrigerator-sized 3D printer? You can make PPE visors and donate them to area hospitals. This is what the architecture firm SmithGroup is doing with its 3D printer, normally used for making building models. FC2 Trustee David Varner, Vice President and DC Office Director, says “our imagination went wild” thinking of ways to help.
SmithGroup architects across the country are also advising hospitals and local governments about how to handle a surge in patients. Hospital space can be rearranged to expand existing capacity. Convention centers or ballrooms can be reworked to take in COVD-19 patients or other less-critical hospital patients. There’s a lot to think through—is there enough power for medical equipment, how is the space ventilated and how can the virus be safely contained between different parts of the facility?
Thank you David and the SmithGroup team. We look forward to hearing from other Federal City Council Trustees to learn how business leaders are making a difference during this unprecedented time.
