Houston CEO Receives Prestigious, Top National Engineering Award for Developing a Breakthrough Technology That Kills COVID-19
Monzer Hourani honored for inventing Integrated Viral Protection (IVP) biodefense indoor air technology that catches and kills actual SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (99.999%), instantaneously
HOUSTON, April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Monzer Hourani, CEO of Medistar and inventor and chairman of Houston-based Integrated Viral Protection, received Engineering News-Record's (ENR) Top 25 Newsmakers of the Year and ENR's highest honor, the Award of Excellence, at ENR's 2021 Newsmakers of the Year and Award of Excellence Luncheon April 8.
Hourani received the Award of Excellence for his lifetime achievement in structural engineering, architecture, design and real estate development, and for his most recent breakthrough invention, the Biodefense Indoor Air Protection System, proven as the only technology to "catch and kill" COVID-19 and other dangerous airborne pathogens, instantaneously in a single pass, and is also endorsed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
"I am honored to receive this prestigious award and to be in such esteemed company," said Hourani. "As soon as the pandemic began, I knew we would need a solution to bring us back to gathering indoors safely. There is no better time to embrace the significance of indoor air quality to reopen our world safely with a technology that will protect future generations."
IVP's indoor air biodefense technology is being rapidly deployed across the nation in medical centers, office buildings, schools, college dorms, restaurants and hotels, including the Intercontinental Hotel in Houston.
ENR salutes outstanding achievements in construction and engineering with its annual Top 25 Newsmakers, Award of Excellence and Best of the Best Projects teams. Hourani was honored as both a Top 25 Newsmaker and given the Award of Excellence. Past honorees include Vicky O'Leary, Chairwoman of North America's Building Trades Unions, and Cris Liban, Chief Sustainability Officer for Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
"The editors of Engineering News-Record have named Monzer Hourani the winner of the 2021 ENR Award of Excellence for his crusade, above-and-beyond the call of duty, to reduce COVID-19 transmission indoors through his virus-killing air filter that boosts indoor air quality — making buildings safer havens during this and future pandemics," said Nadine Post, Editor-at-Large for ENR.
Attending the in-person and hybrid ceremony were elected officials including former Texas Governor and U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry; Senators Marco Rubio and John Cornyn; and former Secretary of Housing Henry Cisneros; global health and business leaders such as Mehmet Oz (Dr. Oz) and Kim Bassett, president of Stewart Medical; and Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp. The gala was held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Houston, the first hotel property in the world to install the technology protecting its employees and guests.
"When you've got Texas A&M University, the biocontainment lab in Galveston, MIT, Argon National Lab, and the Superconductivity Institute at the University of Houston all standing up and saying this technology works and it will kill this virus, that you can hang your hat on," said Perry.
About Integrated Viral Protection (IVP)
Integrated Viral Protection Solutions, LP (IVP) was created by Monzer Hourani in April 2020 to respond to the COVID-19 global pandemic and to foster research, development, and deployment of technologies that offer biodefense solutions to mitigate transmission of biological threats in indoor environments. At the heart of this award-winning biodefense design is a proprietary heated mesh that works in conjunction with legacy air filtration found in HVAC systems. The resulting suite of products will offer proven in-line mitigation for the airborne transmission of COVID-19 indoors. This technology has been recognized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as a top innovation of 2020 for fighting COVID-19.
The Biodefense Indoor Air Protection System is first-line prevention technology against environmentally (airborne) mediated transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). The heated biodefense filter can be retrofitted into commercial and home HVAC systems and/or deployed as a mobile unit equipped with powerful filtration capability. For more information, please visit www.ivpair.com.
For IVP, contact:
Lauren Velasco, [email protected], 847-567-4322
SOURCE Integrated Viral Protection
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