04-06-2020: the President of Poland – Andrzej Duda – demonstrated 3D printing of protective face shields
He was using Zortrax 3D printers at the Presidential Palace
On April 6, 2020, right in the eye of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the President of the Republic of Poland – Andrzej Duda – announced on his official Twitter account that he too was printing protective face shields for medical personnel, based on a design developed a few weeks earlier by Prusa Research. The shields were being produced on Zortrax M200 Plus 3D printers, which the President had received from the Olsztyn-based manufacturer back in November 2017.
Time seems to have sped up. Events have been unfolding so quickly, one after another, that we’ve started to forget the things that, just a few years ago, were such an essential part of our lives. In light of recent events, the pandemic era and all the chaos surrounding it feel like a distant point in the past – even though it’s only been five years.
The mass 3D printing of face shields and other medical accessories can now be viewed from various perspectives regarding their actual usefulness and practical impact. Nevertheless, it held symbolic importance for the development of 3D printing technology, as it showcased – for the first time on such a scale – the real power of so-called distributed manufacturing, even if spontaneous and uncoordinated. Thousands of people around the world joined forces in grassroots production groups, using 3D printers to create accessories that – to varying degrees of quality – supported the fight against the pandemic.
As for President Duda, the event was a friendly, though largely insignificant political gesture. It was nice that the President officially endorsed a Polish 3D printer manufacturer, but as we know now, it didn’t do much for him in the years that followed.
In terms of context, Andrzej Duda received the 3D printers from Zortrax in November 2017 during the 590 Congress in Rzeszów. Two months later, Rafał Tomasiak – then CEO of Zortrax – presented President Duda with a scale model of the Presidential Palace, entirely 3D printed on the company’s machines (the photos accompanying the article are from that event).
Source: www.x.com/
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