TORONTO – A company that made a name for itself in the development of flight simulators is now helping in several ways to keep people safe.
Canadian Aviation Electronics (CAE) has partnered with PYURE to bring together air disinfectants to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The Montreal-based company expects to produce 55,000 units this year, which will be used in hospitals, medical and dental practices, and other businesses and schools across the United States, according to a press release.
Pascal Grenier, CAE’s vice president of global affairs, told CTV News that the manufacturing facilities that previously built flight simulators have been upgraded to produce air infectious agents.
“The reality is that we have the facility, we have the expertise, we have the machinery to do it, so we can keep it going at that level,” said Grenier.
Unlike an air purifier, the CAE air purifier recreates the way sunlight disinfects the outside environment by safely creating and distributing indoor hydroxyl groups and organic oxidants. The technology’s disinfection products and solutions not only purify the air, they also purify it.
“The technology is at a very high level to emulate what happens every day outdoors in the sun and has the purifying effect of the sun indoors,” said Jean Francois Huc, CEO of PYURE.
The Canadian aviation company has been in business since 1946, according to its website. In addition to manufacturing flight simulators, CAE also works in defense, security, and healthcare.
“CAE is a company that sells security. We’re in the security space. Air purification is all about people’s safety,” Grenier said.
In 2020, CAE received an order from the Canadian government to manufacture 60,000 ventilators for hospitals across the country. However, the company’s contract expired in January, leaving 500 employees unemployed.
Since then, more than 100 employees have returned to work.
“This is work that we can actually do, and at the same time we can fight this virus and other viruses that may emerge later, so we’re pretty excited,” said Sophie Albert, a union representative for CAE.