MOORESVILLE, N.C. – On Thursday Riley Technologies delivered its first in-house designed and manufactured powered air purifying respirator mask system for testing.

Based in the greater Charlotte area, Riley Technologies was asked by a Carolina hospital to develop a PAPR prototype for testing and evaluation less than four weeks ago. An around-the-clock schedule by a small team of Riley designers and engineers fine-tuned and perfected the prototype for presentation and evaluation.

A motorsports technology leader in business for 20 years, Riley Technologies was founded by Bill Riley and his father Bob Riley, who is an internationally recognized pioneer in race car design and construction.

“We are honored to have the opportunity and I am proud of the effort turned in by our team here at Riley Technologies the last few weeks,” Bill Riley said. “It’s a new challenge but the basic technology and engineering in the PAPR mask is used in some of the systems we use in motorsports.”

PAPR masks are similar in design and concept to helmet-blower fresh-air cooling systems commonly used as driver aids in modern motorsports.

The Riley prototype is smaller, lighter and more streamlined – common design and performance traits in motorsports – than some of the PAPR units currently in service. The Riley system is powered by a rechargeable and replaceable battery with a 10-hour run time.

The Riley Technologies PAPR project has been led by senior designer Christian Rushforth, lead engineer Tyler Hook, data engineer Adam Holland and Bob Riley who, at 89, is still-going-strong in a 60-year career that has seen him conceive and design race cars that have won the Indianapolis 500 and scored dozens of victories at Daytona Int’l Speedway.