Companies Lend Support and Power Expertise to Communities in Response to COVID-19

Some companies are donating cash to support the distribution of personal protective equipment for frontline workers, and others are ramping up their production capacity to manufacture components to be used for hospital medical equipment. Power electronics companies across the globe are sharing their technology and engineering knowledge to fight COVID-19.

Here’s a snapshot of what companies are working on:

 

Analog Devices Supports WHO Solidarity Response Fund

Massachusetts semiconductor giant Analog Devices announced support for the World Health Organization’s Solidarity Response Fund through its charity arm, Analog Devices Foundation.

 

Image courtesy of Analog Devices.

 

The company will also support the One World: Together At Home initiative, a broadcasted/streamed program to raise money for the WHO and frontline healthcare workers. The event, held April 18, will feature appearances from prominent performers.

Analog Devices is also matching employee donations to the Solidarity Response Fund. The company employs over 16,000 across more than 30 countries.

The company is also taking other actions at the product and manufacturing level to help COVID-19 including prioritizing customers who are manufacturers of critical medical equipment and dedicating certain manufacturing lines to increase the production of healthcare components. 

“ADI is committed to doing everything we can to ensure supply and expedite shipments of our healthcare products that populate the critical medical equipment being used in the front line of the fight against COVID-19. We are also leveraging our domain expertise in partnership with biosensor companies, research hospitals and the international Open Source Ventilator project to
deliver breakthrough technology and provide design assistance where it is needed most,” said CEO and president of ADI, Vincent Roche, in a news release. 

 

BMZ Increases Production of Li-ion Batteries for Ventilators

The Germany-based BMZ Group is ramping up its production capacity to meet the emergency demand for lithium-ion batteries that can be used for medical equipment applications.
The company announced it would convert production to increase li-ion development after receiving a large volume of requests from manufacturing customers that produce ventilators.

 

Maxim Integrated Accelerates Production of Essential Medical Solutions

Maxim Integrated, the California-based company, has accelerated the production of its medical technologies to address the increased need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Maxim’s semiconductor devices are used in varying medical equipment, such as ventilators, blood glucose meters, anesthesia machines, virus detection devices, and more.

 

Image courtesy of Maxim Integrated.

 

“We are committed to helping alleviate the impact of this global pandemic. In order to support efforts in fighting this disease, we are adjusting manufacturing capacity to prioritize products used in medical equipment which assists in the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients,” said Tunc Doluca, President and Chief Executive Officer at Maxim Integrated, in a statement April 13.

 

Monolithic Power Systems Creates Open-Source Emergency Ventilator

Based on the open-source MIT design, Monolithic Power systems combined its expertise in power management and motor control to create an emergency ventilator to help in the COVID-19 response effort.

 

Image courtesy of Monolithic Power Systems.

 

According to a news release, this working solution automates a manual resuscitator when a full ICU ventilator may not be available.

As the MPS team of engineers continues to update and review the design, further design notes, power supply details, and how other engineers can help can be found on the Monolithic Power site.

 

ON Semiconductor Doles Out 10,000 Masks to Its Home City

Through its supply chain, Arizona-based ON Semiconductor was able to help medical providers restock their supply of N95 and ActiveAir masks in the company’s home city of Phoenix. The 10,000 masks were divided among the City of Phoenix and the Banner Health Foundation.  

 

RECOM Offers Free Medical Power Samples in April

In the month of April, Germany-based RECOM is offering three free power supply samples for medical equipment manufacturers.

 

Image courtesy of RECOM.

 

The company develops AC/DC power supplies and DC/DC converters for clinical medical equipment and patient care.

 

TE Connectivity Donates $1 Million+ to Research and Relief Efforts

Switzerland-based sensor developer TE Connectivity is donating over $1 million to support COVID-19 drug development and relief efforts. Through its charity, TE Connectivity Foundation, the company is dispersing grants to organizations that supply personal protective equipment for health care providers and develop treatments for COVID-19 patients.

The $1 million will go to Global Impact, a public-private organization that funds R&D for medical diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.

 

Image courtesy of TE Connectivity.

 

TE is also giving $100,000 to Direct Relief and $75,000 to Shanghai Charity Foundation to distribute personal protective equipment to medical personnel.
Funds will also be delivered to Americares and the Gates Philanthropy Partners’ Therapeutics Accelerator.

The company is double-matching employee donations to medical facilities by 200%. TE currently employs around 80,000 people worldwide.

 

Xilinx Gives $1.1M to California COVID-19 Relief

Xilinx, a San Jose-based manufacturer of programmable logic devices, donated $1.1 million to healthcare and community response efforts in California. The funds will go toward the World

Health Organization’s Solidarity Response Fund, the University of California-San Francisco’s COVID-19 Response Fund and the Silicon Valley Strong Fund.

The company, which employs around 5,000 worldwide is also matching all employee contributions that go to COVID-19 relief.

 

This article is being updated as more companies share their efforts to combat COVID-19.