EMYVALE MAN’S PART IN PRODUCING CORONAVIRUS SWAB TESTS FOR US MARKET

Michael Fisher

A Monaghan man based in California is playing a leading role in a company that has helped to develop swabs for carrying out tests for coronavirus. In the space of two weeks, Emyvale native Finbarr Watterson helped his start-up company Origin switch production from 3D printers to Covid-19 test kits. With restrictions in place across the world designed to limit the spread of the virus, many businesses decided to pitch in along with academics to examine how they could help in the fight.

Origin was founded in 2015 by former Apple and Google employees to manufacture 3D printers. Its printers are now being used to produce batches of 1,500 Covid-19 swabs at a time. The company is now moving to produce 190,000 per day, or 1.3 million per week. Finbarr is the firm’s marketing director. He is a former pupil of St Patrick’s National…