By Marc Stevens
A team of students from BYU''s Electrical and Computer Engineering Departments has developed a product that could make a paramedic''s job easier and help save countless lives.
The Poket Doktor, a microchip-embedded card that carries medical information, earned the students a third place prize at the world finals of the Computer Society International Design Competition June 24 and 25 in Arlington, Virginia. The BYU team was awarded a $6,000 prize for its work, and earned an additional $6,000 towards a scholarship fund for the engineering departments.
The Poket Doktor is a prototype of a credit card-like device with Bluetooth technology, a new form of wireless technology that uses a radio link to transfer information between digital appliances within 60 feet of each other. The Poket Doktor would be used to relay medical information at the scene of an accident - a potential lifesaver for a patient unable to communicate with paramedics.
The project was part of a senior engineering class taught by Michael Wirthlin, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. The students'' assignment was to use the new Bluetooth technology to create a special-purpose computer device that would also benefit society.
'We wanted to give the students a chance to experience a situation similar to the industry,' Wirthlin said.
The class was divided into teams, and their ideas were later presented to two industry professionals and a computer science professor.
The Poket Doktor team was selected to represent BYU at the competition in Virginia. Of the 250 team applications, 75 were chosen to submit project reports to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers'' Computer Society. A panel of international judges reviewed the reports, and BYU was one of the teams chosen to compete in the final competition.
Peter Jones, a senior from Providence, Cache County, majoring in electrical engineering, said the project was important to him because of the potential it has to save someone''s life and benefit society.
'It''s a chance to use what we''ve been learning - to put it into application,' Jones said. He said this is the first time this kind of project has been attempted, placing the university on the developmental forefront.
The Poket Doktor project also gave the students a unique opportunity to use an emerging technology.
'When we graduate we can say we''ve actually done things that I think a lot of students in other universities don''t get the opportunity to do,' said David Vawdrey, a senior from Riverton, Salt Lake County, majoring in computer engineering.
Wirthlin said since this is the first time BYU has participated in this competition, a third place finish is impressive and provides good exposure for the university.
'I''m glad they we''re able to go,' Wirthlin said. 'It''s a reward for all the hard work they put into preparing for the competition.'