Our COVID-19 Response | Lighter Than Air

At LTA, we believe in rising to the challenge and helping others. As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the United States and medical professionals nationwide reported shortages of critical personal protective equipment (PPE), we knew we had the capabilities to make a real difference.

As part of the Bay Area Maker Nexus community, we mobilized our team and resources to help meet a gap in PPE needs. Putting our laser cutters and 3D printers to work, we were able to produce approximately 150 pieces per day across our Akron and Mountain View teams, using an open source design. We knew we could do more to address the national PPE shortage.

We set to work leveraging our supply chain and partner network to rapidly produce the five components of the face shield design: a headband that is injection molded; a shield stiffener that is both 3D printed and injection molded; a shield that is die-cut from large rolls and sheets of PETG material; and elastic headbands and cable ties that are purchased in bulk. Through these initial efforts, our team was able to deliver more than 250,000 face shields free of charge to hospitals, medical practices, and emergency service providers in Ohio, California, and across the country.

At our core, LTA is a large-scale manufacturer with an emphasis on humanitarian aid and disaster relief and we knew we could make a bigger impact. We leveraged existing relationships to increase manufacturing speed and efficiency, establish warehouse and packing centers, identify global demand, and solve complex logistic and delivery problems to meet global PPE need. As we were able to expand our production with manufacturing partners, we worked with hospitals, private medical and dental practices, state agencies, Veterans Administration agencies, universities and other non-profit organizations to distribute face shields across the country.

We also expanded our efforts globally. We worked with a variety of NGOs, including CARE and UNHCR, governments, hospitals, and other agencies around the world to identify the countries with the biggest need. We leveraged shipping and logistics partners to overcome the barriers to importing and distributing PPE where it was needed most. Through these efforts, we donated face shields to countries around the world, including the U.K., Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Djibouti, DRC, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Indonesia, South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Nigeria.

We’re proud of our efforts to provide the financial, logistical, supply chain management, and project management functions to deliver more than 5 million face shields free of charge to hospitals, medical practices, and emergency service providers around the world.