American Society of Mechanical Engineers Names Houston-based Medistar Corporation 2020 Emerging Technology Award Recipient for Inventing Integrated Viral Protection Air Filtration Systems to Stop Indoor Spread of COVID-19

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has named Medistar Corporation as one of five 2020 Emerging Technology Award Recipients for inventing the Integrated Viral Protection (IVP Air) Biodefense Indoor Air Protection System™. IVP Air is a division of Houston-based Medistar Corp.

IVP’s new Biodefense Indoor Air Protection System is proven to destroy SARS-CoV-2 (99.999%), anthrax spores (99.98%), and other airborne pathogens instantaneously, in a single pass. The IVP HVAC filter can be installed in existing residential or commercial ventilation systems. The United States Center for Disease Control reports that the airborne virus can travel up to 18 to 20 feet and can be suspended in the air as a contagious virus for over 18 hours. Research also shows that circulating the cleanest air possible in a room will help decrease the spread of COVID-19.

“Our entire IVP team is elated to be recognized for our achievement in creating a medical technology that addresses the coronavirus pandemic by such a reputable and reliable source as ASME,” said Dr. Garrett Peel, founding partner of IVP. “Using science and technology effectively is what will lead us through and out of this public health crisis. This invention by Monzer Hourani offers people of all ages the ability to breathe with confidence, knowing that the spread of airborne COVID-19 is being mitigated. Our systems are being installed inside performance centers, schools, office buildings, hospitals, restaurants, gyms, convention centers, hotels, and places of worship.”

The IVP system was designed by IVP founder and inventor Monzer Hourani, who has a background in physics, science, and engineering. Hourani is also the founder and chief executive officer of Medistar Corp. He developed the advanced biodefense system in partnership with Dr. Garrett Peel, co-founder of IVP; Dr. Zhifeng Ren, director of the Superconductivity Center of Texas at the University of Houston; and other scientists at the UTMB Galveston National Lab and University of Texas A&M Engineering and Experiment Station.

“The COVID-19 pandemic derailed the best-laid plans for 2020. And yet, the response from the engineering community has been remarkable,” commented Tom Costabile, ASME executive director and CEO. “The editors of Mechanical Engineering magazine spotlight these technologists as all of us at ASME celebrate engineers everywhere who have applied their heads and their hearts to meet real human needs this year.”

Mechanical Engineering is the award-winning flagship publication of ASME. The other four 2020 Emerging Technology Award recipients are the following:

• Advanced Kiosks’ entry-point kiosk that measures temperatures and checks for mask compliance before allowing people to enter a building.
• Prusa Research’s fully open-source design for a face shield that can be quickly 3D-printed and delivered to frontline workers.
• Starship Technologies’ autonomous robot that delivers meals, groceries, and other parcels within a three-mile radius; and,
• UVD Robots’ autonomous disinfecting robot system equipped with UV-C light to eliminate 99.9 percent of all microbes from the surfaces of a room.

In previous years, the Emerging Technology Awards have recognized innovations in five engineering fields; however, when judging for the fourth annual awards program, editors of Mechanical Engineering magazine realized that the technologies that stood out were all supporting society during COVID-19.

“In a time when there is a considerable amount of misinformation about COVID-19, ASME is a much trusted and highly reputable source,” added Dr. Peel. “Not only does ASME celebrate the innovations that are propelling society through a pandemic, but this organization also conducts in-depth research and vetting that cuts through the noise and helps our fellow Americans get much closer to the normalcy we all crave.”

For more information about the IVP system and other winning technologies, visit https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/engineers-in-action-during-covid-19. Watch a video honoring the winners at https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/video-2020-emerging-technology-awards. Members of the Society can read more about the innovations in the December 2020/January 2021 issue.

About Integrated Viral Protection (IVP)

Integrated Viral Protection (IVP) is a technology solutions company that specializes in the design of biodefense indoor air protection systems. Data from scientific peer reviewed publications show significant promise for reducing the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the air, safeguarding people against the dangerous, life-threatening pathogen. IVP has formed a public/private partnership with a team of scientists, engineers, and virologists and has collaborated to develop a promising biodefense indoor air protection system that combats COVID-19 in commercial, transportation, residential and personal environments.

The patent-pending BIODEFENSE INDOOR AIR PROTECTION SYSTEM™ is FDA Compliant to Enforcement Policy for Sterilizers, Disinfectant Devices and Air Purifiers During the Coronavirus Disease - 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency | 21 CFR 880.5045 Medical Recirculation Air Cleaner and 21 CFR 880.6500 Medical UV Air Purifier | Class II Device and permitted by the FDA to be sold during the Coronavirus disease. For more information, please visit: http://www.ivpair.com.

For more for information about the research behind the IVP technology, visit https://research.ivpair.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/IVP-Scientific-Brief-Additional-Data.pdf

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