By: Diane Stirling
(315) 443-8975
A May graduate of the School of Information Studies (iSchool) has capped his undergraduate career with an award recognizing his work as the “Best Capstone Project” in the Professional topics category in Syracuse University’s Renee Crown Honors Program.
Davis Cho, a 2015 graduate of the iSchool’s bachelor’s degree program in Information Management and Technology, was recognized among 29 presenters of topics in the “Professional’ category of capstone projects, according to Eric Holzwarth, Renee Crown Honors Program deputy director.
Cho was recognized for “Incorporating Google-Glass with Emergency Medical Services,” a three-semester effort that linked the student’s deep interest in the medical field with his passion for technology. His project examined how Google Glass technology could be used to solve current problems that emergency medical services (EMS) providers face, and to help educate future emergency first responders.
“I wanted to address one problem with my passion for medicine and technology, and I wanted to show people how technology can help solve problems facing medicine, more specifically in Emergency Medical Services,” said Cho, who became certified as an emergency medical technician before starting college, and has worked with the Syracuse University Ambulance crew all four years of his undergraduate career.
His capstone looked into ways to connect Google Glass on multiple devices onto a secure network, so that EMS providers can livestream a mass casualty event to the hospital and doctor using a tablet, as well as using Google’s Glass Developer Kit to create a vital signs input application. The project was a proof of concept initiative regarding how technology can make a beneficial impact on medicine and the health care system, said Cho. He also created a website for the project: http://emsglass.com.
Throughout his time working on the project, Cho noted that although Google Glass technology has a ways to go in terms of fine-tuning its hardware and software applications, he envisions how future iterations might be perfected “to have significant application in the medical field.” Undertaking the project was instructive about the challenges of bringing technology into the health care market, too, he said, citing “regulations like HIPPA, cost, security concerns, and current non-interoperable systems.” Even with those difficulties, Cho said, “I showed how unique and emerging technology can impact our health care system.”
“The iSchool is so proud of Davis,” said Interim Dean Jeff Stanton. “His project represents the kind of creative work that our graduates do best – combining emerging technologies with societal needs to create solutions that offer the promise of improving people’s lives. We know that information and communications technologies are key ingredients for success in first responder practices today. Davis has demonstrated how an early stage prototype might be used tomorrow to revolutionize those practices entirely.”
The capstone will serve as a “cornerstone for my future career plans,” said the Chicago native. Davis is considering medical school, but first wants to determine if he prefers “a corporate setting or a medical one, or something in between. I want to steer my career where I can help incorporate technology into the medical field,” he said.
While at the iSchool, Cho also served as a peer advisor and as a teaching assistant.
Tim Jorgensen, Information Technology architect and an adjunct professor at Syracuse University, was Cho’s Capstone advisor.