Magna seeking partner to test sanitizing device
TORONTO Engineers at Canada’s largest auto parts manufacturer are hoping a sanitization device they originally developed to eliminate odour and bacteria in hockey gear can be used by hospitals to kill the novel coronavirus on personal protective equipment.
Magna International Inc. is ready to ramp up production of the sanitization devices if it can find a testing partner to prove they eliminate the virus that causes COVID -19, John O’hara, the company’s president of mechatronics, mirrors and lighting, said in an interview Thursday.
“We need to validate it to get it out there,” O’hara said. “(The device) could be a help for hospitals to clean PPE equipment, doctors’ shoes, briefcases, anything you just can’t throw in a washing machine.”
Magna has already shifted production to make masks instead of seating at facilities in Mexico and Europe, it said Thursday.
But its $5-billion mechatronics division headquartered in Newmarket, Ont. also wanted to help. It is one of thousands of manufacturers across Canada offering up technology and production capabilities to help slow the spread of COVID -19.
Innovation Minister Navdeep Bain’s office has engaged with more than 2,000 companies since putting out a call last week for manufacturers to help make products for front-line medical workers, his office said in a statement. The feds are expected to announce contracts for masks, ventilators, tests kits and other equipment as early as Friday, the Financial Post has learned.
Magna is one of many auto parts makers seeing how they can help amid temporary suspension of vehicle assembly by the major three North American automakers.
“We wanted to do everything we can,” Scott Mitchell, the company’s director of new technology and innovation, said in an interview.
Mechatronics engineers typically build things that open and close, such as car doors or outside mirrors, and require complex moulding, stamping and electronics processes. But several years ago Mitchell’s team created a device the size of a large beer cooler called the Puro, which uses ozone technology to disinfect and clean household items that don’t fit in a washing machine. Once items are inside, users press a button to seal and lock the device for a 25- or 45-minute sanitization cycle.
The device has potential medical applications for cleaning hospital gear so it can be reused instead of disposed. Ozone has proven to kill viruses such as H1N1 swine flu in the past based on research from the University of British Columbia, Mitchell said, and this particular device killed MRSA bacteria in 2012.
But before Magna can deploy its 75 devices to hospitals and potentially produce hundreds more, it needs a medical partner to test whether they actually kill the coronavirus. Magna is seeking partners.
If the device is successful, O’hara said it would take six weeks for Magna to scale production to make 300 to 400 such devices per day. They would cost less than $2,000 and potentially as little as $600 for more basic household use, he said.