A relationship that began with friendship and drones is now helping produce face shields for first responders, a critical piece of equipment during COVID-19.

Nathan Smith, Project Innovation Hub manager for Wichita State University’s College of Engineering and Teddy Wisley of the Wichita Police Department are to produce face shields for first responders using 3D printers.

The work is a community effort to tackle a community problem. With the help from Ascension Via Christi and other groups in the area, the goal is to produce 7,000 face shields.

Gregory Inc. of Hutchinson, Wichita's Groover Labs, McConnell Air Force Base's XPX Innovation Team and Pittsburg State University are also helping with. The work to produce face shields is around the clock.