While air quality is an issue that affects the health of millions of people around the world, access to real-time information about local pollution levels is out of reach for the communities most affected. To address these issues, a team of undergraduate and graduate students, supported by professor Colin McCormick, professor Chris Wagner, and Maker Hub ‘Maker Neighbor’ Pascal Girard created GUAQ: Globally Unified Air Quality. This low-cost (<$100) system, prototyped in the Maker Hub, collects pollution information and reports it to data services in the cloud, where it is analyzable and actionable.
With functioning prototypes in hand, the GUAQ team competed at Georgetown Entrepreneurship’s Bark Tank Pitch Competition for a panel of judges. Impressing judges with their clear vision and talented team, GUAQ won second place and $20,000 in funds to apply to future development of their project.