Team 1305 developing and expanding their UV sterilization cart for PPE

Expansion plans are in the works for Team 1305’s UV sterilization cart for Personal Protective Equipment, in the battle against COVID-19.

As we told you late Friday they were awarded a grant from VALE.

For the last month, three grade nine team members and their dads have been working on prototyping their design, which can be made from materials available at local hardware stores.

Two are being used in the Emergency Department and the Intensive Care Unit at the North Bay Regional Health Centre.

The grant money will allow them to further develop the prototypes and build an open source model to be shared internationally, and allow the team to buy materials to build 50 units to donate to other medical centres.

Officials say the UV sterilization cart’s concept was originally designed to help combat the need for medical professionals to sterilize personal protective equipment (PPE), as this equipment is now being reused due to shortages worldwide.

They say there is also a growing need to sterilize personal equipment (phone, keys, computers) for front line workers in many professions, such as hospices and retirement/seniors’ community homes.

1305 has posted their UV sterilization cart design on their website www.team1305.org

They will be inviting other FIRST Robotics teams to join in producing the carts for other communities throughout FIRST by providing those teams with kits for easy assembling.

“The grant given by VALE for this project will help make a safer environment for the healthcare workers and elderly patients of our community. Being able to reuse masks and decontaminate everyday objects like phones and watches is a huge boon,” says Grade 9 1305 team member Fiona Truong, “Thanks to the grant from Vale, we are able to protect the patients most at risk to COVID, like our elderly in old age homes and keep the healthcare workers along with their families protected.”

“We are honoured to receive this grant, which will help make a huge impact for at risk people in our community and allow other teams to make a difference in their communities too,” says lead mentor Bryan Kelso.

(Photo submitted:  Team 1305 dads and daughters who are leading the project: Paul and Tessa Summers, Bryan and Ella Kelso, Fiona and James Truong)