Published: 04/03/2020
Gannon University Cyber Engineering Student Creates Real-Time COVID-19 Tracker
Gannon student Austin Detzel has been monitoring the COVID-19 news and began to notice a trend among the public over a growing concern of either receiving misinformation or not knowing where to look for the most up-to-date details regarding the pandemic. As a response to this, Detzel designed a real-time COVID-19 tracking website to help improve the way credible sources displayed their information to make it more user-friendly and provide historical data on how the disease is spreading.
“I am hoping it will help the healthcare industry and the public to prepare and to easily see correct information,” said Detzel. “I found it hard to follow the information before, and I think this will help give people a better understanding of how it is spreading.”
This initiative, not related to any course or credit requirements, has garnered the support of Detzel’s faculty. So much so, that they are in the process of hiring him through the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department’s special project fund to support him in building upon his initial design to further serve the community with this resource.
“Our job as faculty is to support our students as much as we can,” said Lin Zhao, Ph.D., electrical and computer engineering professor at Gannon. “Even though Gannon is teaching remotely, we are still in touch with our students about classes and about life, she said.
“We were amazed to see what Austin had built and hope to provide him peace of mind and financial needs to assist with further developing the website. ECE lab engineer, Steven Rowland, is working to provide Austin more server power and storage and to provide him technical assistance if needed. We are behind Austin and support him in this endeavor.”
Detzel’s COVID-19 tracking website can be viewed at https://livecovidtracker.com. The data collected on the site is sourced from credible organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization and updates its reporting at midnight each day.