Mando to develop ventilator for COVID-19 patients in collaboration with NASA

SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- Mando Corp., a South Korean auto parts manufacturer, has been selected as a partner for a project being pushed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop a ventilator for novel coronavirus patients, company officials said Monday.

Mando has become the only Asian company to collaborate with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally project aimed at ensuring the steady supply of medical ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The South Korean company plans to develop a ventilator for personal use that can also be utilized for emergency purposes at makeshift hospitals.

"It will be a product designed to meet growing demand for ventilators amid a spike in COVID-19 patients," a Mando official said.

Mando's involvement in the ventilator development scheme comes as JPL recognized the company's expertise in so-called redundancy technology, which is designed to automatically fix malfunctions. This knowhow is critical in medical equipment that involves people's lives.

The latest move comes as the company is seeking to expand its portfolio to include medical equipment as one of its future growth engines.
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