Solar Atmospheres of Western PA celebrated 13 years of AS9100 certification. Like the complexities of ever-changing customer needs, 2020 proves to be challenging businesses. Impacts to daily routines, course of business, personal liberties, and even audit scopes bear the brunt of ushering in a new era. 

This new era is intricately woven with COVID-19, populous instability, and intertwined with increasingly stringent standards, revised industry specifications, and customer requirements. 

Even with these new complexities, Solar passed this milestone for more than a decade of accreditation without any major findings. The live audit was conducted for the very first time using a combination of email, telephone, and video conferencing to grade Solar’s quality management system (QMS) on recent aerospace work. The comprehensive review addressed recent events as risk and Solar’s response as effective.

Melissa Gruszka, quality manager and recent addition to Solar Atmospheres of Western PA, states, “We have a great team that can pull together, under any circumstances, to get work done. Solar maintains the highest standards by keeping safety, quality, and efficiency in check and our customers in the foreground. Solar exercises a proven value system, integral to society, and empowers people, shaping a bright future.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that resilient businesses – those that can emerge with plans for growth – share common traits. These companies can react quickly and decisively to protect workers while keeping business running and adapting processes and product lines, with many manufacturers now increasingly using collaborative robots (cobots) to make those changes efficient and cost-effective.

“The crisis has accelerated the need for flexible automation,” says Joe Campbell, senior manager of applications development with Universal Robots. “We’re seeing an uptick in interest for cobots due to social distancing requirements, reshoring to avoid long supply chains, and the need for rapid production line change-overs. The Cobot Expo is a timely opportunity to showcase and discuss how cobots can play a pivotal role in helping manufacturers successfully navigate the pandemic.”

The Cobot Expo is free to attend and is open for anyone with an interest in collaborative robotics, July 28-30, 9am – 4pm EDT. Attendees are invited to visit booths that feature new insights and resources on the most common cobot applications such as machine tending, packaging and palletizing, product inspection, assembly, welding, dispensing, and finishing. Joining this lineup is ActiNav, the world’s first autonomous bin picking kit for machine tending launched by Universal Robots this spring. Each application booth will be staffed with automation experts ready to engage in conversation with attendees.

For expo visitors wondering how to get started with cobots, numerous keynotes with live QAs will offer insights on critical topics such as how to identify good projects, choosing the right cobot model and peripherals, conducting risk assessment, whether to take a DIY approach or go with an integrator, and much more. The agenda also has presentations on cobot maintenance and programming and the many new ways cobots are being deployed to address the COVID-19 crisis, including area disinfection; manufacturing test kits, face shields, and ventilators; and handling COVID-19 tests, protecting hospital staff from exposure. The Cobot Expo is also an unrivaled opportunity to meet the many UR+ partners presenting the industry’s largest and most comprehensive ecosystem of new products certified to integrate seamlessly with Universal Robots’ cobots. The rapidly expanding UR+ platform now includes over 250 UR+ components and application kits with more than 400 approved commercial developer companies in the UR+ program.

Alongside the UR+ partners will be booths hosted by Association for Advancing Automation (A3) and OEM partners showcasing products powered by UR cobots.

“With tradeshows and conferences cancelled, we are experiencing phenomenal interest from all industry stakeholders in participating in the Cobot Expo,” Campbell says. “This truly is an extraordinary opportunity for an extraordinary time.”

Researchers from the University of Houston, in collaboration with others, have designed a “catch and kill” air filter that can trap the virus responsible for COVID-19, killing it instantly.

Zhifeng Ren, director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH (TcSUH), collaborated with Monzer Hourani, CEO of Medistar, a Houston-based medical real estate development firm, and other researchers to design the filter.

© University of Houston | website.com

The researchers reported that virus tests at the Galveston National Laboratory found 99.8% of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was killed in a single pass through a filter made from commercially available nickel foam heated to 200˚C, or about 392˚F. It also killed 99.9% of anthrax spores in testing at the national lab, run by the University of Texas Medical Branch.

“This filter could be useful in airports and in airplanes, in office buildings, schools and cruise ships to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Ren says. “Its ability to control the spread of the virus could be very useful for society.”

Medistar executives are also proposing a desk-top model, capable of purifying the air in an office worker's immediate surroundings.

TcSUH was approached by Medistar on March 31, as the pandemic was spreading throughout the United States, for help in developing the concept of a virus-trapping air filter.

The researchers knew the virus could remain in the air for about three hours. With businesses reopening, controlling the spread in air-conditioned spaces was urgent.

Medistar knew the virus couldn't survive temperatures above 70˚C (158˚F), so the researchers decided to use a heated filter. By making the filter temperature far hotter – about 200˚C – they were able to kill the virus almost instantly.

Using nickel foam met several key requirements – it’s porous, electrically conductive, and flexible, making air flow and heating possible.

But nickel foam has low resistivity, making it difficult to raise the temperature high enough to kill the virus. The researchers solved this problem by folding the foam and connecting multiple compartments with electrical wires. This increased the resistance enough to raise the temperature as high as 250˚C.

By making the filter electrically heated, rather than heating it from an external source, the researchers minimized the amount of heat that escaped from the filter, allowing air conditioning to function with minimal strain.

A prototype was built by a local workshop and tested at Ren's lab for the relationship between voltage/current and temperature. It then went to the Galveston lab to be tested for its ability to kill the virus. The filter satisfies requirements for conventional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

“This biodefense indoor air protection technology offers first-in-line prevention against environmentally mediated transmission of airborne SARS-CoV-2 and will be on the forefront of technologies available to combat the current pandemic and any future airborne biothreats in indoor environments," says Dr. Cheema of UH College of Medicine.

From stay-at-home orders forcing businesses to close for months to businesses reopening and struggling to find personal protective equipment (PPE), COVID-19 has impacted the world in devastating ways and created new issues for people to face. In response, Haimer provided an innovative solution to help employees return to work safely.

© Haimer | https://www.haimer-usa.com

The Haimer face shield helps minimize the spread of illnesses while providing comfort to the wearer. The adjustable visor is made of high-quality plastic which allows for repeatable use. The product is sustainable and environmentally friendly through easily replaceable visors and head cushions. It also fulfills PSA Regulation (EU) 2016/425 category II, respectively requirements of eye protection according to EN 166:2001, ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2020, CSA Z94.3:20 to protect against droplets and splashes (partly applied).

The face shield is produced by injection molding on German machines. When the first shipment of the Haimer face shields arrived at Haimer USA, the team decided to donate masks to the Old Saybrook Dentist office in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Upon receiving the donation, Dr. Paul Bied, DDS and his staff tried them out at the practice.

“It is definitely made to the highest quality,” Bied says. “It is very comfortable to wear.”

The Haimer face shield is suitable for production companies (industry and handcraft) and offices as the visual field is not limited.