Growing up, Patrick McFarland saw firsthand how a child enduring seizures impacted a family. His 4-year-old sister began having them, and McFarland’s mother put her career on hold to care for her daughter.
Fast forward about 15 years, and McFarland, who went to college after a short career in the insurance industry, is a sophomore in Arizona State University’s biomedical engineering program. He enrolled in a class titled “Entrepreneurship and Value Creation” for engineering and business majors. Here, a long-brewing idea came to life.
With a little inspiration and guidance, McFarland harnessed years of nervous moments into a passionate entrepreneurial tech venture called Korwave, which produces prototype simple headbands that monitor neurological activity to alert patients, caregivers and physicians of a seizure. The historical data of seizure activity is also stored and could inform physicians considering treatment options.