Helping the Vistaprint plant in Lakeshore increase its production of face shields to send to front-line workers fighting COVID-19 was an “amazing” experience for a third-year electrical engineering student serving a co-op term with the company.

Bogdan Gramisteanu designed a layout for the shields that optimized the number that could be cut at once, which helped the plant produce 100,000 shields a week, says manager Diane Labute.

“Within hours he had re-programmed the equipment to produce the product,” she says. “It is refreshing to see an aspiring engineering student with an insatiable desire to learn and solve problems.”

Drawing on a design already in use by local hospitals, the shields have a fully adjustable band. The Vistaprint team made multiple changes in response to client suggestions, Gramisteanu says: “It felt great when we got the feedback from the hospital that they really liked the design and got the initial order of face shields.”

Besides its sales to Essex County hospitals and small businesses throughout North America, the company is donating 100,000 shields to healthcare facilities in underserved, small communities.
Gramisteanu says his stint of co-operative education has better prepared him for professional practice.

“The co-op experience has helped me gain and develop multiple skills through practical experience,” he says. “In the workplace, working on different projects has developed my communication and organization skills.”