SRM student develops real-time COVID-19 info tracker

Anupam Tiwari, student of SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur who has developed app named CoronApp.

Chennai, March 19 (MExN): A student of SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur has come up with an app that provides live information on the virus. The app named, CoronApp, was developed by Anupam Tiwari, a student of SRMIST, who is now an exchange student doing his startup semester in mechatronics (electrical

engineering and computer science - EECS) at UC Berkley. He along with his teammates came up with this idea. 

Speaking about the app, Anupam said, “With the Coronavirus fear at a peak, I thought having a proper app containing all information about the same will be helpful.” 

He created a prototype overnight and pitched it to his friends, who loved the idea and decided to work on it with him.
CoronApp for mobile browsers, now available, allows users to click on red dots on a map to get updates on virus cases. 

It integrates COVID-19 data from Johns Hopkins University, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization (WHO), and a Twitter feed provides the latest curated news.

 “The process was tiresome,” he said and added, “When we were developing this application, to begin with, there were no other similar applications. There were only websites that provided chunks and chunks of information. We spent sleepless nights and massive brainpower on this. We gave ourselves one week because time was sensitive. In the end, everything was worth it.”

Talking about the app, he further explained, “We wanted to create a platform that had all the information one should know about the Coronavirus; from statistics to basic precautions, and one can also input information manually. The app is updated in real-time as it is powered by data provided by the CDC and WHO.”

Asked about how their app is different from the ones that already exist, he responded, “All apps seem to focus only on world data but our application provides people with localized user experience. Using the phone’s location, the Geo-map automatically zooms into the user’s location on the map, allowing them to see the reports of cases around them. This is the most important information people are looking for, and now, they can find it within seconds.”

His team consists of Anushka Purohit, Year 2 from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST); Sahil Mehta, Year 1, EECS UCB; Ean Hall, Mechanical Engineering, UCB; Akonkwa Mubagwa, Haas School of Business, MBA, UCB; Manuel Smith, Haas MBA, UCB; Daniel Smith, Software developer and Sevith Rao, Haas MBA, and Doctor.

Dr TR Paarivendhar Founder Chancellor, SRMIST, Pro Chancellors Ravi Pachamoothoo and Dr. P. Sathyanarayanan, Vice Chancellor Dr Sandeep Sancheti, Registrar N Sethuraman congratulated the proud student.