Honeywell's Top 10 Innovations of 2020

Shanghai, China, January 11, 2021 – 2020 has been an extraordinary year, as the pandemic has sparked both challenges and innovation. In response to market shifts brought about by the need to fight the pandemic, Honeywell quickly transformed its manufacturing facilities, producing millions of N95 masks to help healthcare workers and government agencies fight the pandemic. While escorting the fight against the epidemic, we are also constantly creating new technologies to help all walks of life meet a better future.

Here are Honeywell's top 10 innovations for 2020:

Infrared thermal imaging temperature measurement technology

For many years, the oil and gas industry has been using thermal imagers to detect gas leaks. The response to the pandemic has found new use cases for this technology. The result is Honeywell ThermoRebellion, which uses infrared imaging technology and artificial intelligence algorithms to accurately measure temperature. When people walk past a high-resolution thermal imager, the machine detects their body temperature instantaneously.

Airports, factories, businesses, schools, and large event venues can use this body temperature monitoring solution to screen people through designated entrances in real-time, contactless. The technology has been put into use at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport in United States.

Quantum computing becomes a reality

In 2020, Honeywell released the 128-quantum volume System Model H1 quantum computer, which was successfully put into commercial use, meeting the needs of enterprise customers to include quantum computing in their technology roadmaps.

With a focus on reducing errors and delivering high-quality computing, quantum computers are gaining more and more trust to deliver accurate and reliable results that address the problems of today's traditional computing methods. As issues continue to evolve and extend beyond the reach of traditional computers, trust in the accuracy of the technology in question becomes critical.

Drone collision avoidance technology

The IntuVue RDR-84K lightweight radar system accurately detects air traffic, bird flights, and weather conditions.

The system not only detects obstacles, but also provides alternative navigation in the event of a primary navigation failure and assists in automatic and precise landing. This innovative technology reduces weight and saves space by replacing other sensors, which is critical to the rollout of urban air mobility vehicles such as air taxis and drones.

Millions of masks

Healthcare workers on the frontlines of the pandemic need personal protective equipment when treating patients. To that end, Honeywell has retrofitted existing manufacturing facilities around the world to expand N-95 mask production capacity to meet the needs of frontline workers.

It usually takes about nine months to set up a mask production line. But in order to cope with the rapid spread of the coronavirus, this process must be accelerated. In just five weeks, Honeywell added an N95 mask production line at its plant in Rhode Island, United States, and successfully started production in April 2020.

In China, since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia, Honeywell has paid close attention to the development of the epidemic and has taken urgent action. Before and during the Spring Festival in 2020, Honeywell organized relevant partners to allocate inventory and logistics in a timely manner to ensure the supply of protective materials to the greatest extent, supplying a total of more than 20 million masks to the market, and actively cooperating with the government to ensure the supply of protective equipment for front-line workers in areas with serious epidemics with all the company's production capacity.

Building technology for the safety of people

As the pandemic raged around the world, offices were left empty. But buildings such as manufacturing facilities and hospitals must remain operational. We help building owners minimize potential pollution risks with the help of air quality and safety analysis techniques, including dual monitoring of the building environment and occupant behavior.

Our technology enables a safe building environment so that occupants can return to work with peace of mind. Honeywell's healthy building solutions address a wide range of building needs, as well as custom solutions for high-end commercial buildings, airports, hotels, healthcare facilities, stadiums, and schools.

Cabin UV cleaning system

The Honeywell Cabin UV Cleaning System cleans high-touch surfaces such as trays, seats, aisles, and trunks in the cabin.

The use of UV light for disinfection is not innovative. According to the International Ultraviolet Association (IUVA), ultraviolet light has been used to disinfect drinking water, wastewater, and other substances for about 40 years. However, it is an innovation to apply it to aircraft cabins, which can clean narrow-body aircraft cabins in less than 10 minutes.

Look at the air that "wears".

There are no more particles in the air. With Air Detective, we can technically analyze air samples and record them with holographic images, which are then sent to the cloud to analyze the types of spores, pollen, and other suspended particles in real time.

With the help of a powerful AI-powered holographic microscope, HVAC technicians can take snapshots of the air inside the house, eliminating the waiting time for samples to be sent to the lab.

Remote Operational Technology

From fire alarm systems to industrial facilities, Honeywell is committed to transforming remote operations around the world. For example, Honeywell's Connected Life Safety System enables fire technicians to control building fire protection panels in the cloud. In addition, Honeywell Process Control successfully transitioned a critical process control facility in Orange, Texas, United States, to remote operations.

Many facility maintenance teams are facing staffing shortages and the inability to be physically present due to work stoppages. Remote operations can solve these problems and perform critical tasks while reducing the number of people in the field.

Machine learning-based cybersecurity

When a hacker attacks an industrial network environment, Honeywell's machine learning-based applications are the first to find out.

It is increasingly important to identify security issues in industrial control systems and IIoT technologies. Communication anomalies can indicate hardware issues, anomalies, security and configuration issues, or even cyberattacks.

3D printed aircraft engine parts

Honeywell uses 3D printing technology (additive manufacturing) to create the first certified flight-critical aircraft engine components.

By 3D printing key parts, manufacturers can increase the speed at which parts can be produced and produce small batches. 3D printing uses lasers to fuse layers of metal powder together to build components from bottom to top.

Honeywell's Top 10 Innovations of 2020

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