New MEP client is prepping to help transport a potential vaccine across the United States
By Bradford Sherman
CFAES/South Centers
One of the newest Manufacturing Extension Partnership
(MEP) clients is poised to play an important role in delivering
a crucial COVID-19 vaccine to Americans.
Stirling Ultracold is a manufacturer of ultra-low temperature
(ULT) freezers, the kind necessary for transporting large
doses of such a vaccine across the country. The MEP
program at The Ohio State University South Centers is
helping the Athens-based company prepare for such a
monumental task.
“We are providing consultants to help prepare Stirling for a
massive launch of freezers to transport potential COVID-19
vaccines,” explained Dawn Coleman, the MEP Growth
Advisor working closely with Stirling Ultracold on the project.
“OSU South Centers MEP strives to partner with businesses
to lead in technologies and innovations, giving them their
competitive edge,” added MEP Program Manager Doug
Anderson. “We are proud to partner with Stirling Ultracold, one
of our nation’s leaders in COVID cure solutions.”
Stirling Ultracold currently offers the only commercially available
ULT freezers that can safely maintain temperatures from -86°C
to -20°C and meet the cold storage efficacy requirements of
most COVID-19 vaccine candidates, regardless of which are
ultimately approved.
“Our breakthrough cooling technology makes the Stirling
Ultracold line of ULT freezers uniquely efficient, lightweight,
and flexible enough to meet today’s unprecedented COVID-19
vaccine cold chain deployment challenges,” Stirling says via its
website, stirlingultracold.com, where you can read more about
the technology.
Connecting manufactures, like Stirling, with consulting
services is just one of the many ways MEP provides high value,
affordable solutions to help businesses increase profitability.
Services MEP can offer include operational support and
quality, workforce development, cybersecurity, and advanced
manufacturing technology.
“We have developed a wide range of services and initiatives
that enable manufacturers to accelerate business growth,
strengthen business improvements, and mitigate business
risk,” added Anderson. “Our aim is to bolster our manufacturing
partners’ competitiveness in the global marketplace.”
The project with Stirling Ultracold, secured by Coleman, is the
largest ever for the MEP program at OSU South Centers.
It is also one of the most important, as the COVID-19 pandemic
has had an unprecedented impact on the health of Americans
and the U.S. economy.
“This is opportunity to not only create additional workforce in
southeastern Ohio, but to help potentially save thousands of
businesses across the country. Most importantly, though, this
is a project that has the potential to help save hundreds of
thousands of lives,” Coleman said.
To learn more about the MEP program at OSU South
Centers, or to find out what it can do for your company, visit
southcenters.osu.edu/manufacturing-extension-partnership.
You can also call 740-289-2071.
Article by: Bradford Sherman via
OSU SOUTH CENTERS FALL 2020 CONNECTIONS Newsletter
Read the entire newsletter HERE
The Ohio State University South Centers 1864 Shyville Road
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Phone: 740-289-2071
Toll Free: 800-297-2072
Fax: 740-289-4591
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