Face Shield Operation Timeline

March 13

We design a 3D printable face shield.

Above: Stephanie (Keefe) Budmen wears her Budmen Face Shield.

March 16

We print and donate 50 shields to our local testing center.

Above: Budmen Buildini 3D Printer printing face shields.

March 17

Syracuse.com writes an article about us. In the next 48 hours, we receive requests for 30,000+ face shields from around the world.

Above: Syracuse.com article published March 17, 2020.

March 19

We publish face shield design files and instructions for 3D printing and assembling on Budmen.com.

Within 24 hours, there are 12,000 downloads.

We receive over 100,000+ face shield requests globally, and from major institutions including MassGeneral, Mayo Clinic, Carnegie Mellon, Mt. Sinai, Zuckerberg General, and Sloan Kettering.

We temporarily stop manufacturing 3D printers to focus on face shield requests.

March 22

CNN, Fox News, CBS, and NBC News run stories on us.

Other media outlets cover our story, including Wired, The New Yorker, Fortune, and more.

March 26

The next President of the United States, Joe Biden, tweets about us.

March 30

We collaborate with IC3D, an additive manufacturing service, to receive rapid approval from the National Institute of Health (NIH). The IC3D Budmen Face Shield is the first 3D printable design approved in a massive inter-agency effort between FDA, VA, NIH, and AmericaMakes.

Below: Budmen files available for download on NIH COVID-19 website.

May 1

Over 3.3 Million Budmen Face Shields were printed and distributed globally in less than 2 months.

Above: Map of Budmen face shield requests and face shield printers.