Each year, 37 children die from being left in a car and forgotten. One small mis-step can lead to heartbreaking consequences, which is why LSU students Victoria Irondi, Trevor Perrault and Nnamdi Dike built the Weston’s Infant Seat Emergency (WISE) Device, a device that can help prevent these tragedies from ever happening again.

The LSU engineering alumni were required to complete a capstone project their senior year. The groups were randomly selected, but the task at hand touched each member personally, especially Perrault who recently welcomed his own child into this world.

“At the time my wife was four months pregnant, and it stood out to me. I was very excited when I was picked to work on the project, “ Perrault said.

No task this big comes without a few hiccups like learning how to create the bluetooth connection for the first time, but this did not stunt this team’s confidence. It only made the moment when the device worked successfully even more rewarding.

“When it was finally completed, I felt on top of the world. You know that feeling when you’ve been working so long on something throughout a nine month span and you finally see it work; it was such an amazing feeling,” Perrault said.

The device has a clear box that works as the “brain,” and it is connected to a weight pad. The team used bluetooth technology to connect a car fob that signals when the caretaker gets out of their car and is too far from the child.

The weight pad is placed under the fabric of the car seat, and can tell if the baby is still there based on the pressure it recognizes. From there, the car fob begins a continuous beat until the caretaker takes the baby out of the car seat.

Dike, Irondi and Perrault are hoping to get their device on the market and help saves babies.