Amazon has engaged the hardware design team at subsidiary Lab126, best known for building Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets and Echo smart speakers, to develop technology for COVID-19 testing.
GeekWire has announced that Amazon has a job opening for a mechanical engineer at Lab126 who, among other duties, will "research and implement new technologies and methodologies to improve the quality and effectiveness of COVID-19 testing." The emergence of such vacancies suggests that Lab126 has been tasked with helping to ensure the safety of employees at Amazon's order processing and fulfillment centers.
Lab126 is based in Silicon Valley, but job postings indicate these jobs will be in Hebron, Kentucky, where Amazon is hiring lab technicians, scientists, and other workers as part of its COVID-19 testing program.
The location of the branch is notable for its proximity to the future major airport Amazon Prime Air, scheduled to open next year in Cincinnati, Ohio. Amazon will eventually be able to deliver test samples on cargo planes to a lab in Kentucky, Bloomberg News told Bloomberg News last week.
Amazon will reportedly spend about $300 million on COVID-19 testing projects this quarter. The next step could be regular testing of all employees, including those who are asymptomatic.
Source: 3dnews.ru