Dedicated Computing’s Embedded Tech Speeds Covid Testing Capabilities

Original article published by the Milwaukee Business Journal, February 5, 2021

Dedicated Computing, a privately held, Waukesha-based computer systems designer for global equipment manufacturers and independent software vendors, recently partnered with multibillion-dollar tech giant Intel Corp. to develop next-generation computing technology for medical equipment used for Covid-19 testing.

With more than 200 employees, Dedicated Computing recently designed a computing system that would increase reliability and longevity of analyzing devices used for Covid-19 testing by a global vitro diagnostics company that has been a customer of Dedicated Computing for a decade.

Due to disclosures in place, Dedicated Computing, which makes computer systems for the military, medical and health care industries, did not reveal the identity of its partner.

With Dedicated Computing’s technology, the testing systems can run up to 440 tests per hour, accommodating 25 million or more tests per month.

Last April, Intel announced it was pledging $50 million toward a pandemic response technology initiative. The funding was set aside to provide funding to accelerate customer and partner advances in diagnosis, treatment and vaccine development. Dedicated Computing is a high-level and long-standing business partner of Intel, said Don Schlidt, president and CEO of the company, and through their relationship, learned about the opportunity early in the process and was distributed funds from Intel to design a new computer system that would be embedded into diagnostic equipment made by the health care manufacturer.

“We were very comfortable pursuing it,” Schlidt said. “Beyond saying it was the right thing to do and there was a cause, it’s literally how we think, it’s how we prioritize, and I think, frankly, why we’re successful.”

About a dozen professionals at Dedicated Computing worked on the project, with about half of them working remotely and the other half at the company’s headquarters in Waukesha, which includes a 130,000-square-foot design and manufacturing facility, Schlidt said.

The chemical analyzers made by the health care manufacturer are being deployed to over 130 countries, including to more than 2,000 patient testing facilities throughout the U.S. The company is one of Dedicated Computing’s largest customers and the two have partnered on other initiatives in the past, Schlidt said.

“This was a natural extension of our mission and our company culture,” Schlidt said.