Post by Kevin N.

This past weekend, our team took on the challenge of participating in the IEEE NJIT hosted MakeNjit 2026 competition. We placed SECOND!!! There we designed an EMS gauntlet for natural disaster recovery, a system built to support first responders operating in the most demanding environments. Picture this: a room lit by laptop screens at 3 AM. Five exhausted engineers, running on caffeine and stubbornness, chasing a deadline that kept getting closer while our chances of success seemed to slip further away. Wires everywhere. Code breaking at the worst times. Sensors refusing to cooperate. And still, we kept pushing. One of the hardest lessons we learned was knowing what not to build. We made the decision to sacrifice “nice-to-have” features in favor of core functionality. By prioritizing reliability, simplicity, and usability over complexity we saw the vision. In disaster scenarios, systems don’t need to be flashy, they need to work. Every time. That's why our EMS gauntlet focuses on delivering critical, real-time data directly to the operator: - Environmental conditions in hazardous zones - Vital monitoring for responders under physical stress - The potential to assess survivor condition on-site The vision is simple: empower first responders with immediate, actionable information when every second matters. In a world where 45% of firefighters deaths are related to cardiovascular diseases from the stress, strain, and smoke inhaled, we provide a way to monitor the operators' and the survivors' vitals. Looking forward, we see this evolving far beyond a prototype. Future iterations will integrate more advanced and reliable sensors, along with a survivor profiling system. We want to leverage head-mounted cameras paired with forearm-mounted sensors to provide responders with real-time insights into a survivor’s condition, enabling faster and more informed treatment decisions on the spot. We’re also focused on refining the physical design, moving toward a more durable, fire resistant, IP5x compliant, and field-ready system that can withstand real-world deployment. This project pushed us technically, mentally, and as a team. I’m grateful to have worked alongside everyone as follows: Cristian Garcia - Electrical & Power Distribution Ferit (Farid) Altay Altay - Embedded & ML Voice recognition training Hamdi Korreshi - Software & AI Object recognition William Mauricio Otto - Manufacturing and Assembly Kevin N. - Team Lead, Mechanical Design and Manufacturing What started as a late-night grind turned into something we’re genuinely proud of and something we believe has real potential to make an impact in emergency response. #Engineering #FirstResponders #DisasterRecovery #WearableTech #EmbeddedSystems #Innovation #Teamwork