Drones flying at GovState to advance medical delivery research
By Sarah Shoaf, Staff Writer
Drones have taken flight at Governors State University (GovState) to advance research on delivering medications to those in need.
In partnership with Valqari, a private drone company, the project has given students and faculty an opportunity to get involved with the research and development process, gaining more experience building and operating the cutting-edge technology. The GovState project team consists of eight faculty and staff members and 18 students.
Dr. Xueqing “Clare” Tang is Chair of the Science, Math and Technology division in College of Arts and Sciences. She started the project to give students hands-on learning opportunities and to make an impact in education and the community at large.
“We want to catch up with the landscape of new technology, like artificial intelligence in drones,” said Dr. Tang. “We’re using advanced artificial intelligence algorithms behind the technology, so students can see what skills are needed, while helping develop the drones along the way.”
For some, working with drones is a relatively new experience. Brett Porter, a Computer Science major, and a volunteer on the project, had no prior experience with drones before he joined the Drone Engineering Club, led by Senior University Lecturer Aslam Shahid.
Brett (pictured far left) also had the opportunity to work as a Software Engineering intern at the University of Notre Dame on NASA-funded drone projects, under the leadership of GovState alumna Jane Cleland-Huang, where he developed skills in Python coding, data science, and drone frameworks.
Now, he’s working with fellow students Nathan Rodriguez, Thomas Daily, and Harshavardhan Datla to design an object detection model to recognize people and vehicles as part of the research on medical drone delivery.
“Ultimately, we aim to develop a framework that enables the drone to pause when detecting an obstacle and resume once the path is clear.”
Currently, the medical drone delivery project team is running through its weekly demonstrations leading up to its final showcase, and Brett is grateful for this opportunity.
“Being part of this project has allowed me to deepen my understanding of drone frameworks in real-world applications, learn from expert mentors, and contribute to cutting-edge drone technology in healthcare,” said Brett.
The project team is set to showcase its final demonstration on April 25, where guests can see commercial-grade drones in action and how the technology can advance the healthcare field.