Vaughan company's pandemic playbook: print protective equipment, offer virtual platform

Exceed Robotics was set to open Richmond Hill location

Yorkregion.com
May 7, 2020
Simone Joseph

One of Shant Pailian’s aims is to encourage students to come up with real-life solutions.

With the advent of COVID-19, the mechanical engineer had the opportunity to model this.

“This is the biggest real-world problem we’ll find in our lifetime,” said Pailian, co-founder of Exceed Robotics. “We want to set an example for our students.”

Exceed Robotics teaches students robotics, coding, game programming and how to use artificial intelligence in given applications.

Billed as "engineering for children," it was founded by a team of mechanical, computer and software engineers in 2014 in Thornhill.

After the pandemic hit, Pailian, the company’s director of operations, was on Facebook and found his calling.

Pailian says Michael Garron Hospital’s drive for personal protective equipment was “a call to action."

He packed up his 3D printers from his Thornhill location and drove them to his Toronto home.

He took them into his basement and started up the printers, running them “non-stop.”

But these printers were meant for prototyping, not for mass production, he said. The limitations meant he could only print nine frames of visors for face shields every two hours.

He started printing on March 27 and printed at least 300 of these frames. He also printed some for dental surgeons.

After being featured on CP24, as well as in a tweet from Thornhill MPP Gila Martow, Pailian began receiving calls from doctors and a grocery store asking whether he could print face shields or a respirator part.

Someone called Pailian from a printing shop, telling him he could help produce masks. The shop could supply transparent film, a piece used in a visor. Pailian put the shop in touch with Michael Garron Hospital.

So how is Exceed Robotics doing? It is offering students a virtual platform, so they can learn online.

“We’re adjusting every day to the online world,” Pailian said.

The company has a Thornhill and a Mississauga location, and was preparing to open a third in Richmond Hill when the pandemic hit. Construction was finishing up on the Elgin Mills Road and Yonge Street location. The new branch was scheduled to open in May, but has not yet opened its doors due to the pandemic.

Even with the company’s agility in transforming its program, it is still playing enrolment catch-up. The company used to have 700 in-person students; now, there are 200 online.

“We’re focused on growing back on the virtual platform,” Pailian said. “It’s been a crazy month. You make do with what you have and you keep going.”

This new world is challenging, because Pailian has to provide students with a lot more technology support than he used to. “If their internet connection is too slow, I have to help out,” he said.

Pailian, who has a master’s in mechanical engineering, and the co-owner have been working 18-hour days.

“It’s like starting the company from scratch,” Pailian said. “This forced us to adapt quickly, overnight. We’re looking to survive. We’re doing well. Let them take their time so this doesn’t come back.”

For more information, visit their website at exceedrobotics.com.