Alvin Community College industrial design instructors have been making masks for health care professionals. The masks, made using 3D printers, help combat a shortage of personal protective equipment, according to a press release sent out by the college.

The instructors are making face shields that can be used to cover the entire face while working. Instructor James Langley started making the masks after seeing other colleges doing it and finding a ready-made design, according to the release.

“I found that some manufacturers were providing the files needed to 3D print the parts along with a materials list to assemble the shields,” Langley said in the same release.

The college is glad it is able to continue supporting health care partners on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, President Christal Albrecht said in the release.

“Our industrial design faculty and staff were very resourceful in locating the materials to produce the much-needed face shields,” Albrecht said in the press release.

Each mask takes several hours to complete with staffers working to make as many as they can, according to the release.