UW receives PPE disinfecting prototype from Cambridge Toyota
Posted Aug 27, 2020 08:45:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The University of Waterloo has recieved a prototype for a PPE disinfecting machine which was designed by engineers at the TMMC plant (Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada) in Cambridge.
Fred Huard is a senior engineering analyst at Cambridge Toyota and was one of the engineers behind the disinfecting machine prototype.
He says they were looking for a solution to help improve disinfection capabilities during the pandemic.
“We looked at a few different types of technologies and the most promising and most recent was the use of this UV disinfection, so the use of UVC light as a means of radiating germs or viruses. So we eventually decided to focus on that type of technology and from there we looked at the best way to implement that technology.”
Huard says this type of technology has never before been used in an industrial setting.
“So ultimately we decided on developing a tool, or rather, a cabinet that could be used to disinfect tools, disinfect PPE, because we identified those items as the most frequent touch-points for team members in our plant and those that would offer the best return on our investment.”
He says the technology will be used as a tool at the University of Waterloo to take a closer look at UVC technology as an effective method of disinfection.
“So essentially, had we continued using it at TMMC, it would have gone under extensive engineering studies to make sure that the amount of time that the items we've put into the disinfection unit are completely disinfected and utilized and there are existing practices in there that we would have ended up following.”
