Innovative student project automates COVID-19 health assessments

EDMONTON -

A tool designed by former Edmonton students could make health assessments for COVID-19 and other viruses easier than ever.

The non-invasive kiosk, called COVIDIAN, is designed to automate health checks and track potential exposures or outbreaks through the data it gathers from users it clears before entering a space.

The project, created by a group of former Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) students, is now a contender for the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta’s (ASET) capstone of the year award.

The COVIDIAN uses an RFID sensor to scan a users ID while sensing their temperature. If it is too high, the user is told to go home and contact Health Link. If it is normal, the user is instructed to sanitize their hands. All the collected information is stored in a secure database to help with contact tracing.

Jarod Tracy, one of the team members and graphic designer, said the project aimed to reduce human interaction during health screenings to help limit the spread of COVID-19.

“We just went from there,” Tracy said. “By using this kiosk, you eliminate human error so if contact tracing information was written down wrong or something, this kind of eliminates that.

“If investors came to us we would definitely be willing to take it further,” he added.

Tracy said the project would work best at places most susceptible to outbreaks or transmission of COVID-19, like retirement homes or airports.

Barry Cavanagh, ASET CEO, told CTV News Edmonton that the project created by four former students demonstrated a great inventive approach.

“They’ve not only addressed a current problem in a meaningful way, but they’ve done so in a way that demonstrated a great acuity of knowledge, a great technical expertise.”

The project is one of seven finalists contending for the capstone project of the year award. The winner will be announced later this autumn.