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At the peak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, in March 2020, the Hospital of Chiari (Brescia) was in a state of emergency. The stock of valves needed to operate ventilators was dwindling and the manufacturer was unable to supply them at short notice. Massimo Temporelli, founder of Fablab Milano and one of the 3D printing pioneers in Italy, with the help of the local press, called makers to the rescue. Cristian Fracassi, a young engineer from Brescia, and his colleague Alessandro Romaioli, who works in the world of 3D printing, rose to the challenge. The original manufacturer of the valves was not very cooperative and withheld the design data and blueprints relying on European Union (EU) medical manufacturing regulations. Temporelli, Romaioli and Fracassi were not discouraged and quickly began the process of reverse engineering. The plastic part was re-measured, drawn as a 3D model …