When Madiha Choksi, a research and learning technologies librarian at Columbia University, received a call for help from a doctor last week, she didn’t hesitate. Part of her job entails managing the school library’s 3D printing program, so she often gets requests from researchers and faculty members to print out different prototypes. On March 19, Peirre Elias, a Columbia University cardiology fellow, had an urgent ask: With the severe absence of PPE at hospitals, would she be able to 3D-print face shields?

Face shields offer an extra layer of protection for health workers, with space to wear a protective N95 mask underneath, and unlike masks, don’t need to go through quite the same rigorous testing or meet the same safety standards to be of immediate use, and can be easily cleaned for repeated wear. Choksi got that request at 8 p.m. and immediately went to work looking at crowdsourced blueprints online. The next morning, she reached out to Columbia’s provost to ask for access to the library even though the campus was shuttered, and by the end of the day was able to bring two of the school’s 3D printers back to her apartment.

By Saturday, she printed off five prototypes of the shields—the part that needs to be 3D printed is like a visor that fits on your forehead, holding in place an acetate sheet—and passed them off to Elias for approval. By Monday, she went to Newark to connect with Tangible Creative, a 3D printing manufacturer with about 75 machines. A week later, she has set up an assembly line at the 92nd Street Y to put these face shields together—her team of volunteers assembled 400 March 26, and received another 600 3D printed headpieces that evening—to sanitize them, and to send them off to hospitals across the city.

Choksi says that though, of course, it’s frustrating that these hospitals don’t have the supplies they need and that we as a country are not prepared for the influx of COVID-19 hospitalizations, she’s seeing the power of community support. “We’re doing this at the grassroots level,” she says. “At this point, it’s just like, whatever we can do, let’s do it.”

As production lines are interrupted and healthcare facilities are experiencing massive product shortages, makers are stepping up to fill manufacturing gaps during the coronavirus pandemic, and Choksi and her team are just one example. Armed with 3D printers, small manufacturers are creating face shields and COVID-19 test swabs by the thousands, delivering much-needed resources on demand.

Nevaris A.C., cofounder and CEO of Tangible Creative, says he and cofounder Eugene Chang have pivoted their business to be almost 100% focused on the printing of these face shields. Within the past week, Tangible Creative went from printing 60 on the first day to up to 500 in a day, after they were able to automate the production. “At first it was very exciting and cool to use 3D printing in this innovative and important way, but it changed pretty quickly to be daunting, when we realized the demand is pretty great,” he admits. “This is the first time since I’ve been in this business that I’m like, ‘I don’t have nearly enough printers.'”

To meet this tremendous need, Tangible Creative is working on organizing a coalition of makers. Right now it’s between them, the Columbia Library volunteers, and MakerBot, a company that makes 3D printers. “What we’re trying to do is get to a point where we can churn out 10,000 a week, if possible,” A.C. says. That capacity may be a few weeks away, but the need is here now. Alex Gil, a digital scholarship librarian at Columbia who has become the communications and delivery arm of this effort, says they’ve gotten an overwhelming response as physicians and nurses ask for their own batches. “It really does feel like a war effort,” A.C. says. “I’ve never been a part of anything like it. Everyone knows it’s important, and people are stepping up.”