Cornell student Karina Popovich makes a global impact on COVID using 3D printers
You’re never too young to make a huge impact—take Karina Popovich. An undergraduate at Cornell University, during the pandemic Popovich founded award-winning Makers for COVID-19, “a coalition of 3D-printer owners from around the world who 3D-printed and donated 82,000 units of PPE to medical workers in the United States,” according to Cornell.
Working mainly with high school and college students, chapters not only provide crucial PPE to facilities including schools, clinics, and homeless shelters, but also support students as they develop leadership, fundraising, and other business skills. When the need for PPE becomes less critical the chapters hope to transition to making 3D-printable prosthetics.
In an interview with ABC News, Popovich says, “Makers really started out as me wanting to make a difference and helping out my community, and it ended up with a 19-year-old girl leading a group of 350 people from the ages of 12 to 60…across the US and even some internationally. That was a crazy experience for me, and I really feel like I changed a bunch of odds for other girls out there, so now they can see that they can achieve their wildest and biggest dreams.”