July 7,2020

Q Division today announced their participation as commercial retail experts in the global Advanced Materials Pandemic Task Force (AMPT) - an international public-interest initiative focused on using Advanced Materials to solve some of humanity's most pressing challenges such as the current global health crisis. AMPT brings together experts from multidisciplinary domains and will rely on deep insights into emerging technology from Q Division's Manolo Almagro and Ben Gauthier.

The Task Force will establish a framework to develop strategies, coordinate activities and bring together critical mass and resources from multidisciplinary domains, including academia, engineering, life and health sciences, public health, economics and social sciences. This global network will identify current and future needs to develop and implement innovative solutions based on advanced materials in the pandemics and post-pandemics era using a resource and knowledge-sharing approach. Q Division will provide the team with critical insights on how evolving consumer behavior will impact areas such as; contactless transactions, supply chain, package design and COVID safety compliance. 

"Q Division's domain expertise in commercializing emerging technology across various industries will be a critical contribution to helping build the AMPT global roadmap," said Dr. Zina Jarrahi Cinker, Director General at AMPT.

The Task Force will formulate a roadmap delineating how advanced materials solutions can be deployed at different phases of a pandemic such as COVID19 by creating a library of knowledge, extensive mapping of user-centric needs, an expansive network of scientific labs, advanced material companies and testing facilities.

"I am truly honored to be working with this international task force. Since the COVID outbreak, Q Division has been tracking both the short- and long-term impacts that emerging technology will have across several industry verticals. Consumer behavior, commerce and operations are evolving. We're providing our teams with critical insights on adding consumer and employee safety and helping inform the AMPT workstreams," said Manolo Almagro, Managing Partner at Q Division.

"Our participation in this global effort is vital in surfacing opportunities between retailers, brands, and those studying the properties of the advanced materials," said Ben Gauthier, Technology and Commerce Partner at Q Division. "As a team, we will be able to more rapidly uncover applications of advanced technology in a new world post pandemic."