Aurora, ON – A Grade 11 student at Dr. G.W. Williams Secondary School has been making personal protective equipment (PPE) from a 3-D printer he built himself.
After hearing about the shortages of PPE over the March Break, Luka Miljanov decided he could help. He has fine-tuned his printer to cut down the printing time for a face shield from 12 hours to just one.
His goal is to create at least 100 masks. His family will be splitting the 40 face shields he has made so far between two long-term care facilities in Aurora.
He became interested in 3-D printing technology in Grade 8, when he got his first printer. He built the machine in just a week, despite the fact it had over 1000 parts. He also prints his own parts if something breaks on the machine.
Miljanov is also environmentally conscious. The masks he is printing are made from polylactic acid, which he describes as “a plastic polymer synthesized from corn. This means the plastic is renewable and will not have a large impact on the environment.”
Melissa Schmidt, principal at Dr. G.W. Williams S.S. describes him as a student with “an absolutely brilliant mind” and said it “made her weekend” to hear what he’s doing.
His mother Natasha said she is “very proud of him” for showing how much he cares about others and for using his time to support others in need. The Miljanov family has ties to the healthcare field, as Luka’s grandmother is a retired healthcare executive. She has also chosen to re-enter the field in this trying time.
“I feel proud that I am making a difference,” Miljanov said. “I believe the best way to overcome a pandemic is to work together, albeit from a distance.”
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York Region District School Board is the third largest school district in Ontario with over 127,000 students in 180 elementary schools and 33 secondary schools. York Region students consistently perform above average in provincial testing and the Board is one of the top achievers in Ontario. For more information about the York Region District School Board, please visit our website: www.yrdsb.ca and follow us on Twitter: @YRDSB.
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