Student projects focused on COVID-19

Nikhil Kalathil

Nikhil Kalathil

Ph.D. student, Engineering and Public Policy

“Today, no existing public or proprietary data sources capture in real time the evolving universe of domestic (no less international) manufacturers supplying critical medical markets. Without this data, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US government was flying blind. Leveraging text analysis of public data, we were able to gain real-time situational awareness of the firms entering and scaling up in response to the COVID-19 crisis, particularly small and medium sized businesses. Within two weeks we revealed significantly greater capacity than known by the government.”

Nikhil Kalathil research poster

Afonso S.B. Cardoso Do Amaral

Afonso Amaral

Ph.D. student, Engineering and Public Policy

“My research—which focuses on Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Germany—shows that countries with domestic manufacturing were better able to adapt regulation to safely accelerate the entry of new domestic manufacturers of ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries unable to sustain domestic manufacturing may benefit from partnerships with countries that pre-agree to share expertise to support the safe and adaptive regulation of new home country entrants during crises. The European Union would benefit from establishing mechanisms to support such agreements. We believe our findings extend to international alliances.”

Afonso Amaral's research poster