Notice UofL guard James Scott's mask? Made by students, it's more intricate than it looks
The University of Louisville's James Scott has been an integral piece of the men's basketball team this season.
He was temporarily sidelined by a facial injury. That's when students at UofL's school of engineering stepped in.
The students came together and developed a 3D mask to help Scott get back on the court.
If you've watched the Cardinals play this season, you've likely seen the mask created for Scott.
"I never really thought that, like, 3D printing would lead to like, me actually, like impacting people's lives. But I'm glad it has, because it's been pretty neat," said Sophie Wegenast, UofL Speed School engineer.
As Wegenast worked to perfect the third mask she's made for Scott, she was thinking back on when she first saw him injure his face against Miami.
"I saw the email being like, 'Hey, we have this injury, we need this mask.' And I was like... okay, I got to get to work, like, right now," said Wegenast.
Wegenast and her coworker Justin Gillham say they made masks for student-athletes at UofL before, with the process taking about a week. But this time, the turnaround was tighter than that.
"So he came in probably a few hours after we got that email, and then that was pretty much that," Wegenast said. "We scanned his face. It took all of like ten minutes. And then it was off to the 3D printers."
While Wegenast makes the process sound simple, it's not.
"It uses the same technology as, like, your phone when you do your face passcode. But it shoots all these little lights at your face, and it takes, like, different points," Wegenast said.
Those points build a 3D model of a person's face on the computer. Then, Gillham uses that model to create the mask.
Gillham says they test fit the mask directly to Scott's face using the computer.
"I probably could have just put like, holes in there that may make it look a little less scary, but this was just doing it fast," Gillham said.
Not only did the mask protect Scott's face, but it made him into a national meme; something Cards fans couldn't get enough of.
"It's been pretty funny that seeing the kids in the student section wearing like, Bane costumes, it's like, oh, we did that like it was an accident. But it's pretty funny how it worked out," Gillham said.
Wegenast and Gillham are both glad to see the mask did its job.
Now, in time for the NCAA Tournament, they've perfected their creation.
Scott and the Cardinals will open up the NCAA Tournament on Thursday at 12:15 p.m. against Creighton in Lexington.