Rajan Kumar MS ’ 16 , PhD ’ 19
Joshua Windmiller ’ 07 , MS ’ 09 , PhD ’ 12
Sensors are a way to de-mystify the world around us , to make sense of our surroundings . [...] As sensors get smarter , we ’ ll get a lot smarter too .
— JOSHUA WINDMILLER ’ 07 , MS ’ 09 , PHD ’ 12
Joshua Windmiller ’ 07 , MS ’ 09 , PhD ’ 12 , co-founded the company Biolinq with Jared Tangney , ’ 09 , MS ’ 12 , PhD ’ 14 to create what he calls , “ the front end for digital health .” Their first product is a skin-applied patch for continuous glucose monitoring for individuals with diabetes , but the ultimate goal is to advance the frontier of non-invasive technology and use its clinical-grade information on metabolism to help folks live happier , healthier , and more productive lives .
What was your experience at UC San Diego and the Center for Wearable Sensors ? The most extraordinary opportunity in the lab was the ability to conduct highly interdisciplinary research largely focused on grand challenges . It was a dynamic and collaborative environment as well ; we were encouraged to try new things and it was okay to fail , too . It was great to be at the forefront of a lot of the activities that have culminated into today ’ s market of wearable sensors . Joe Wang and Patrick Mercier had a lot of faith in what I was doing in my research , as well as in the field of wearable technology in general ; their passion is contagious and was a main factor for me to enter such a burgeoning area of research .
What should we know about wearable sensors ? Sensors are a way to de-mystify the world around us , to make sense of our surroundings . They convert some sort of physical or chemical quantity into digital information that we can make use of . In the future , what we ’ ll see are sensors that can provide individuals with a copious amount of information pertaining to health surroundings , at a very immediate rate . Having this increased accessibility to information will aid in the decisions we make , so as sensors get smarter , we ’ ll get a lot smarter too .
Rajan Kumar , MS ’ 16 , PhD ’ 19 started his company Ateios with fellow Tritons Carlos Munoz ’ 16 , MS ’ 20 and Rushabh Shah , MS ’ 19 , to solve the battery issue in flexible electronics . Using a custom-made rapid manufacturing process , they aim to do away with bulky and rigid batteries as we know them and instead shape batteries around products , rather than the other way around .
How did you enter the field of wearable batteries ? I had done a lot of work on medical sensors , and I knew that to really enable the potential of wearables , we have to look at everything around it : the software , how it will be worn , how it looks , and of course , the power source . That was the biggest problem I saw — as my colleagues were developing these ultra-thin and flexible devices , the battery was still this ugly thing ruining all the innovation . They ’ d have to hide it away under garments when they published results . It was a problem I was very excited to solve .
What should we know about wearable batteries ? Batteries can be thought of as the missing link that will make advances in wearable sensors truly integrated into our lives . Any electronic that is going to be part of a textile will need that special battery — flexible and stretchable just like the sensor itself . As for our vision — imagine a person putting on a track jacket or athletic shirt . They go run or workout for an hour and it measures all sorts of biomarkers with built-in sensors . Then they go home and shower , the shirt goes into a hamper that wirelessly charges it as it sits there waiting for the wash . It ’ s just like a regular textile , but it moves and feels like normal , which is essential if we are to truly adopt these technologies .
Learn more about UC San Diego and alumni advances in wearable tech at tritonmag . com / wearable
TRITONMAG . COM 33