Hamilton firm is hub for manufacturing innovations supporting front lines in COVID-19 battle
Published May 4, 2020 at 2:40 pm
A Hamilton-based firm is coordinating a number of manufacturing efforts dedicated to battling the COVID-19 pandemic and has, so far, invested tens of millions in supplying the front lines.
A Hamilton-based firm is coordinating a number of manufacturing efforts dedicated to battling the COVID-19 pandemic and has, so far, invested tens of millions in supplying the front lines.
Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), the industry-led organization behind Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster, announced over the weekend that it has invested more than $21 million in projects that will lead to the production in Canada of critically needed technologies, equipment, and medical devices to aid in the fight against COVID-19.
“Manufacturers across Canada have stepped up to the challenge,” said Jayson Myers, NGen’s CEO, in a press release sent out Sunday (May 3).
“Their capacity to innovate and mobilize advanced technologies has allowed them to respond rapidly, both in scaling up production of health care products and in delivering new solutions to front-line workers.”
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NGen is a not-for-profit organization that matches manufacturing companies with new technologies to drive advanced manufacturing in Canada, the company’s website says.
In March, NGen announced that it would allocate at least $50 million of funding from the Canadian Government’s Innovation Superclusters Initiative to help launch innovative manufacturing solutions to help in the fight against COVID-19.
Since then, NGen says they have received more than 900 expressions of interest from advanced manufacturing companies across Canada.
“I am truly inspired by the depth of knowledge, expertise and commitment from industry, government and the research base across such a wide range of technologies,” said NGen’s Chief Technology Officer, John Laughlin.
“These collaborations are meeting the immediate needs of patients and front-line workers with innovations in life-sustaining equipment, medical products, and PPE, while also strengthening manufacturing capacity in Canada that will continue to grow and sustain Canada’s economic recovery.”
The projects approved so far include the development and manufacturing of ventilators and components, test kits, face shields, and a coating material that kills bacteria and viruses on contact.
NGen worked closely with the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Canada’s National Research Council, Health Canada, and the Public Health Agency of Canada to prioritize projects for funding that will deliver the most immediate benefits to Canadians.
“Our government is mobilizing its resources in the fight against COVID-19, and it’s great to see Industry doing its part,” said Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.
“I’m proud of the superclusters, including NGen, for stepping up to leverage their broad membership and Canada’s strong industrial base to confront COVID-19.”
Here are more details on some of the projects that have come out of the NGen Supercluster:
Ventilator: Canadian Emergency Ventilators Inc./Starfish Medical (Toronto, ON)
This project is providing ventilators for use in challenging COVID-19 triage scenarios. The project is manufacturing what will be known as the “Winnipeg Ventilator,” which will be suitable for large scale manufacturing and use during the COVID-19 crisis. To date, a functional system has been developed, assembled and tested that demonstrates the functional performance of the device in healthcare settings. The core technology has also been licensed and cleared for use by the FDA in the U.S.
Ventilator Components: BOMImed (Winnipeg, MB)
Winnipeg, MB-based BOMImed, which manufactures and distributes airway management, anesthesia, critical care, warming therapy and patient monitoring products, is collaborating Synergy Mouldworks (Brantford, ON), and Precision ADM (Winnipeg, MB) to rapidly develop and launch production of high-quality, fast-to-produce and cost-effective ventilator breathing circuit components. The project is dedicated to come up with a made-in-Canada solution to address the shortages in breathing circuit components for ventilated patients across Canada.
Face shields: Molded Precision Components (Oro-Medonte, ON)
Molded Precision Components (MPC), a full-service engineering and injection molding company, is working with Sterling Industries (Concord, ON), will be designing and mass-producing a personal protective face shield. MPC will be moulding the headband strap portion of the face shield, while Sterling will be producing the face shield portion holding the strap. MPC expects to mass-produce up to 5,000 face shields per day.
Face shields: Mosaic (Toronto, ON)
Mosaic is a digital manufacturing company using 3D printing technology and multi-material printing processes to produce a wide range of products. NGen’s funding will enable the company to rapidly produce and distribute 45,000 face Shields over a three-month period.
Face shields: Burloak Technologies (Burlington, ON)
Burloak, a supplier of precision manufactured 3D printed metal parts to the aerospace industry, is working with Hamilton Health Sciences to design, develop and manufacture a full-face shield to address the need for specific identified medical equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The prototype product is in trial and Burloak is tooling up to be producing 5,000 pieces per week.
Test Kit: Sona Nanotech (Halifax, NS)
Sona is using its proprietary nanotechnology to develop a rapid point-of-care test to screen for Coronavirus. The test will provide users with a quick-response lateral-flow test to screen patients. The test is expected to produce results in five to 15 minutes and is anticipated to be priced similarly to other tests used to diagnose infectious diseases.
Test Kit: Response Biomedical (Vancouver, BC)
Response Biomedical Corp. (RBM) has used its proprietary RAMP® platform technology, a fluorescent-based lateral-flow Point of Care (POC) system with Health Canada clearance, to produce a rapid, economical and accurate COVID-19 diagnostic test for use in point-of-care settings near patients or in the community. The aim of the project is to develop and manufacture, at large scale, a novel SARS-Coronavirus-2 RAMP® Point-of-Care test that will enable the rapid and accurate triaging of patients presenting with symptoms of COVID-19 in 15 minutes or less.
Sterilization Coating: Envision SQ Inc. (Guelph, ON)
EnvisionSQ is a joint effort with the University of Guelph to develop an innovative self-sterilization clear coating product (EnvisionSQ Clear Coating – NanoCleanSQ) that can be easily applied to hard surfaces to help prevent spread of the Coronavirus. NanoCleanSQ kills bacteria and viruses on contact, particularly coronaviruses, and is safe and durable, providing long-lasting antibacterial and antiviral protection. The NGen COVID-19 funding will allow EnvisionSQ to scale up production of NanoCleanSQ within 12 weeks to produce more than 1,000 litres per week, enough product to protect over 1 million doorknobs, 75,000 km of handrails, or the interiors of 8750 elevators, 400 city buses or 200 passenger airplanes per week.