Former undergraduate student, Dawn Ng, worked a co-op position at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. During this term she studied and learned the vehicle painting process and she noticed every time a new color was applied to a bumper, a solvent-water mixture was used to clean the nozzles of the high-tech spray robots. The cleaning agent contained about 10 percent solvent. Wondering if there could be a more efficient way to clean these nozzles, she worked with WIN member, Professor Leonardo Simon, and created a new solvent-water mixture that cleans Toyota's car painting machines better and more efficiently while reducing environmental impact.
"With the help of the University of Waterloo and other Toyota team members, Dawn researched, analyzed and tested different cleaning agents. She even developed a computer program to test the “cleanability” of different solvent/water mixes."