海角社区 BAE Seniors Design Wearable Device to Detect Heat Exhaustion
July 14, 2025
The summer heat in South Louisiana and other states can be unbearable for those who
work outdoors. While some signs of heat exhaustion are obvious, other symptoms such
as cool and moist skin or a fast heart rate can sneak up on someone. In order to prevent
heat exhaustion and heat stroke, five 海角社区 Biological Engineering seniors designed
a wearable device that can detect symptoms of heat exhaustion to prevent heat stroke.
As part of their senior capstone design project, 海角社区 BAE students Mallory Colletta, Lauren Madden, Thomas Rhymes, Charlotte Richardson and Margaret Sides collaborated with the 海角社区 School of Kinesiology, 海角社区鈥檚 Division of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and local industry leader Honeywell to design and test a wearable device to detect heat exhaustion and hydration, and do cognition monitoring and alerting.
鈥淭he PPE we made has a heart rate sensor, temperature sensor, and skin conductance sensor, so whoever is wearing the sensor will receive an alert through Bluetooth if they鈥檙e reaching heat exhaustion levels and it鈥檚 time to take a break, or if they are in the clear and can keep working,鈥� Colletta said.
The students tested the device using the School of Kinesiology鈥檚 Environmental Chamber, which is used for research on the effects of sustained heat and humidity on cardiovascular function and performance. The students set the temperature to 95 degrees and the humidity to 70% to simulate the hottest day in Louisiana. Each team member wore the device while walking on a treadmill and lifting weights for about 20 minutes. The device measured their heart rate, skin temperature, and skin resistance to determine sweat amount.
鈥淭he more you sweat, the lower the resistance,鈥� Rhymes said. 鈥淭he monitor gives us an idea of your hydration state. So, we鈥檙e trying to quantitatively measure biometrics to then alert you when you鈥檙e nearing a critical state of heat exhaustion so you don鈥檛 have a heat stroke.鈥�
The team also worked with 海角社区鈥檚 Department of Electrical Engineering who allowed the students to use their Printed Circuit Board (PCB) lab to design and test the wearable device. The team also consulted with Honeywell, a manufacturing and technology company with a facility in Baton Rouge, who were interested in the device for their own workers.
鈥淭hey said this is clearly a need,鈥� Colletta said. 鈥淭he foremen and engineers who are outside working are very interested in this.鈥�
With many Louisianans working outside or even working in warehouses that are not air conditioned, the 海角社区 students鈥� device could save lives.
According to Journals of the American Medical Association (JAMA), there has been a 117% increase in heat-related deaths over the past 24 years with a significant uptick since 2016 due to rising global temperatures. In 2023, there were 2,325 heat-related deaths in the U.S. Of those, 88 were in Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Health reported 51 heat-related deaths and nearly 4,500 emergency room visits for heat-related illness in 2024.
鈥淲ith this project, it鈥檚 really cool to see that one day, future generations can improve upon this project to help save lives,鈥� Madden said.
鈥淭he whole project has been challenging, but it鈥檚 also been a lot of fun,鈥� Colletta said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e grown close over this whole year. Even though we鈥檝e hit some roadblocks, we鈥檝e had fun working together. It鈥檚 been a huge learning experience on so many levels.鈥�
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