Biomedical engineering students from the Georgia Institute of Technology placed first in the International E-Waste Design Competition's E-Waste Reuse category for their project, CardioReach.

The Georgia Tech team made an electrocardiograph, a device used to detect and diagnose heart abnormalities, from e-waste components. The team acquired smart phones through donation programs, using the cell phone hardware for processing and transmission, while other components are used for signal input and isolation. The technology of CardioReach is in its early stage development, but the team expects a functional prototype to be made by as early as August.

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the greatest risks to human health. Although the technologies that detect and treat these diseases exist, the devices are not available to the vast number of developing countries, which is why the Georgia Tech team took on the project. The team is working on the price adjustment for CardioReach, so the device will be less expensive and still competitive than the other similar devices popular in Brazil, Russia, China and India.

College students and recent graduates from around the world participated in the e-waste competition, held in May at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Global issues such as electronic waste or e-waste generated by computers, TVs, cameras, printers and cell phones are growing every day.

The competition included two categories: E-Waste Prevention and E-Waste Reuse. The competition challenged students to create solutions to prevent electronic waste or recycle it into new items, with the goal of motivating students to come up with an idea or service that could help current and future generations become more responsible. Also, the competition pushed participants to create new ways that current e-waste can be productive and useful. A total of 29 teams submitted entries, 12 in the reuse category and 17 in the prevention category. Three prizes were awarded in each category with three honorable mention awards. 

Written by Georgia Tech Communications & Marketing Student Media Member Ayesha Patel.