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Faculty of Applied Science / Mechanical Engineering / 2020 / August / 11 / Alumnus’ startup helps pharmacies with asymptomatic COVID-19 testing

Alumnus’ startup helps pharmacies with asymptomatic COVID-19 testing

August 11, 2020

In the fall of 2018, when Nicholas Hui was taking Applied Science’s New Venture Design course as part of his final undergraduate year in Mechanical Engineering, he had no idea he would co-found a company providing services in response to a global pandemic. The former AeroDesign Team Captain hadn’t considered a startup as his first career goal after graduation, but the course sparked an interest that would lead to his co-founding and becoming Chief Product Officer of MedMe Health, a software platform currently helping Alberta pharmacies deliver asymptomatic COVID-19 testing.

After graduation, Hui took part in Toronto’s NEXT 36 entrepreneurship program where he met business partner Purya Sarmadi. The two began envisioning a platform that would enable pharmacies to deliver unique services in an increasingly online world by leveraging their medical expertise. Seeking a pharmacist to complete their team, they were joined by Dr. Rui Su. Since, MedMe has won the $100,000 Grand Prize of startup incubator Velocity’s June 2020 Virtual Pitch Competition, and was also one of 15 out of 2500 start-ups selected as part of Wefunder’s Fight-the-Virus program.

In July 2020 Alberta opened asymptomatic COVID-19 testing to pharmacies, and the team quickly developed a new software module in response. Their COVID-19 Module supports the safety of pharmacists and the public by moving parts of the testing process online, such as screening and scheduling, so that the only thing done in-person is the test itself. By facilitating quicker testing, the software will support more accurate and timely identification of outbreaks. After releasing the module in early July, one of their first customers had 20 appointments booked within 24 hours of offering the service, and about one month later, pharmacies using the module have conducted an average of 140 tests each. MedMe will soon offer a flu-shot module, which will similarly reduce the time spent in-person during a time of high demand for both immunizations and COVID-19 tests. By facilitating influenza vaccination, they also hope to help reduce the load on COVID-19 testing due to the crossover of symptoms between the two illnesses.

While pharmacy care may seem like a field far from his undergraduate training, Hui is leveraging the skills he learned at Mechanical Engineering and UBC AeroDesign. Being a design team captain gave him project management, communication, fundraising, and leadership skills he has used in creating a startup. As MedMe’s Chief Product Officer, his “job is essentially to figure out what to build,” and he continues to use engineering design principles to identify needs and create solutions:

One of the coolest things about Mechanical Engineering is that there really aren’t a lot of rules – as long as you comply with basic standards, most things are up to engineers to learn, explore, and improvise on. This paired with the very challenging learning curriculum, many mechanical engineers including myself are very confident in being able to just pick up new topics outside our expertise and become very good at [them] very quickly.

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