Teenage brothers use their 3-D printer to supply face shields to Geisinger
Much like all other students in the area, Alex, 18, Tyler, 16, and Dylan, 12, who attend Devon Preparatory School, have been taking classes online since March. The three brothers who normally spend their free time playing sports, golfing and fishing, decided to use some of their newly found downtime to develop face shields for frontline caregivers in their area.
“We had a 3-D printer that our dad got us for Christmas, and we realized we could help out with the PPE shortages when we saw the supply crisis in the news,” said Alex, who finished his senior year classes last week. “We called hospitals and nursing homes and they told us that they did need more supplies.”
The brothers downloaded the basic designs for face shields and then made some adjustments to produce them as fast as they could with their 3-D printer. They have been printing the face shields and covering the costs themselves.
“We earn the money caddying, mowing lawns and doing chores,” said Dylan, who is finishing up his 7th grade year.
So far, the Kenneson brothers have made more than 500 shields and have a capacity to make about 12 to 18 per day with the printer running all day.
“We have a second printer that is currently broken, but we are trying to fix it so we can double our capacity,” said Tyler, who is a sophomore this year.
The brothers have created their own company, ATD Products, with their own website and LinkedIn presence. The website, www.atdproducts.com, proudly states that “ATD Products was founded during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic by three brothers who saw a need and committed themselves to serving our frontline heroes.”
ATD recently donated 25 face shields to Geisinger.
“A family friend, Taylor Lindeman, just graduated from the University of Scranton and started working at Geisinger as a nursing assistant,” said Alex, who plans to major in engineering at the University of Scranton this fall. “She asked if we would send a shipment of our face shields to Geisinger and we, of course, said ‘yes.’”
To make a donation in the fight against COVID-19, please visit Geisinger.org/fightcovid or call 800-739-6882.
About Geisinger
Geisinger is among the nation’s leading providers of value-based care, serving 1.2 million people in urban and rural communities across Pennsylvania. Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the non-profit system generates $10 billion in annual revenues across 134 care sites - including 10 hospital campuses, and Geisinger Health Plan, with 600,000 members in commercial and government plans. The Geisinger College of Health Sciences educates more than 5,000 medical professionals annually and conducts more than 1,400 clinical research studies. With 26,000 employees, including 1,600 employed physicians, Geisinger is among Pennsylvania’s largest employers with an estimated economic impact of $14 billion to the state’s economy. On March 31, 2024, Geisinger became the first member of Risant Health, a new nonprofit charitable organization created to expand and accelerate value-based care across the country. Learn more at geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.
