News
&
Highlights
Andy Nyhus
Chops Hancock
4
WSU Currents
•
Fall 2012
Miracle Workers
Make Coming
Home a Little Safer
By Margaret Cox
New parents dream of bringing home their
little ones to grow and thrive. In the future,
new parents, especially those of premature
babies, will be able to do so more easily.
Winona State students
Chase Lundstrom,
Parbati Sanjel, and Tauseef Hemayet
,
dubbed the “Miracle Workers,” have de-
veloped an infant sleeping pad called the
Cloud Monitor to protect babies from the
tragedy of Sudden Infant Death Syn-
drome (SIDS). Created as an entry
for the 2012 Microsoft Imagine
Cup competition, the Cloud
Monitor took on a life of its own,
providing an exceptional hands-on
learning experience for its creators.
The Cloud Monitor is a soft pad with sen-
sors inside that monitor a baby’s heart rate,
respiration, and movement. A microcom-
puter collects information from the sensors
and transmits it to the parent’s cell phone.
If the baby’s vital signs fall below or above
the pre-set ranges, the parents are alerted.
“
Initially, our incentives were to boost our
resumes and gain exposure,” says He-
mayet, “but we gained so much more. This
project allowed us to apply what we’ve
learned over the last four years.”
The Miracle Workers consulted professors
from the WSU Nursing Department
to learn more about SIDS, re-
searched sensory devices
with the Physics Depart-
ment, and explored
microcomputer and
mobile technology
through Information
Technology Services.
Mass Communica-
tion helped create
a video to showcase
the device for the
Imagine Cup competi-
tion. When the project was selected as a
top-ten finalist, University Communications
and professors in the College of Business
helped the Miracle Workers hone their pre-
sentation skills. Web Communications as-
sisted in launching a social media campaign
that helped the Cloud Monitor project win
the Imagine Cup People’s Choice vote.
A WSU entrepreneurial organization, Stage
One Group, connected the team with mem-
bers of the business community to offer ad-
vice in preparation for the contest. “Speak-
ing as an alumnus, it’s not that they’re a
top-ten finalist, although that’s a huge win,”
says John Freund, founder of Stage One
Group. “Just to see how this whole campus
came together and got behind these three
students, that’s the most exciting piece
of this.”
At the finalist competition in Seattle, the
Miracle Workers took second among the
U.S. teams and were invited to the inter-
national competition in Sydney, Australia.
The team has already been approached
by several venture capitalists offering to
purchase the idea. Instead, they decided to
form their own company, secure a patent,
and develop the Cloud Monitor into a vi-
able product.
For parents like Miracle Worker Chase
Lundstrom, that makes coming
home with a baby even sweeter.
“
Children are what you do
everything for,” he says.
“
They come into your life
and completely change it.”
In the much the same
way, the Cloud
Monitor is positioned to
transform the way hospi-
tals and parents monitor
premature infants.
Miracle Workers Tauseef
Hemayet, Chase Lundstrom,
and Parbati Sanjel
received
a People’s Choice Award in
the Imagine Cup Competition
with their Cloud Monitor for
premature infants.
