Pandemic Report: COVID finder tech; Virus-killing robot; Sanitizing drones

COVID finder tech

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded $199,653 in Phase 1 funding to Farmspace Systems, a veteran-owned start-up based in Alamo, Tenn., to enhance its COVID Finder technology, a non-thermal detection COVID-19 screening method.

Virus-killing robot

Lydia Melles and Lucy Hoang, Wichita State University seniors, are creating a robot to kill COVID-19 germs at McConnell Air Force Base.

Sanitizing drones

The FAA has granted approval to Pittsburgh-based AERA to use drones to sanitize large-scale sports and entertainment venues.

Biotech heats up in North Carolina

The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines use messenger RNA (mRNA) to fight off the virus. This engineering has touched off a flurry of activity in the biotech sector in several Fast Future cities, specifically in North Carolina. Every year, North Carolina’s universities award 4,900 life sciences and 4,500 engineering degrees.

Shutdown and autism

Brooke Ingersoll, a professor psychology at Michigan State University and the director of its Autism Lab, worked to ensure proper intervention methods during the COVID-19 shutdown. Now she addresses the three areas of concern for autism education in the future.

Getting vaccine info to underserved communities

Northern Kentucky University has set up a program that is focused on getting accurate and timely COVID-19 vaccination information to medically underserved communities.