This week’s Hometown Hero, presented by Hendrick Southpoint, is Mike Swimm, who is using his hobby of 3D printing to make PPE for hospitals and medical workers.

Swimm owns an eCommerce company, but has been involved in 3D printing for the last five years. When the coronavirus pandemic broke out, he used his skills to make personal protective equipment — or PPE.

“I started finding other people on Twitter and a whole bunch of us came together and just started producing as many face shields as we possibly could,” Swimm said.

Swimm and other residents started a group called Triangle Fighting COVID, which has delivered hundreds of face shields.

The process to make a face shield is actually very easy.

“It’s a very simple piece and it’s pretty comfortable and can be printed very, very quickly,” Swimm said. “It’s kind of a bit of a contest for everybody on the Slack channel to figure out how quickly we can make these and we’ve got people making them in about 25 or 30 minutes a piece. ”

Swimm said he’s produced around 160 face masks since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The PPE are delivered to medical offices, assisted living facilities and any place on the front lines of the fight against the virus.

Triangle Fighting COVID is constantly looking for new members, so if you have a 3D printer and want to get involved visit trianglecovid.com.

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