Shield T3, based in Chicago's South Loop, has started putting vending machines for Covid-19 tests at college campuses across the U.S.
Shield T3 CEO David Clark said the company has sold nearly 40 of the machines, each of which is stocked with about 300 saliva-based PCR tests for Covid.
The tests were developed in 2020 by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Company employees work out of shared office space in the university's Discovery Partners Institute headquarters at 200 S. Wacker.
The company ran more than 4.8 million saliva tests nationwide, partnering with DePaul University, some Washington, D.C.-area schools, and more than 250 other schools, businesses and other organizations over the course of the pandemic.
Clark said the vending machines are a more affordable and convenient way for universities to get a read on infection rates as opposed to doing widespread testing on campus.
“If you can imagine a place like the University of Wisconsin, they had 12 testing centers on campus that we ran all their testing for. They didn't want to run those testing centers anymore,” he said. “This really provides a safety net for [colleges] and it allows their students to have access to high-quality, fast-turnaround tests.”
Students using the machines pay nothing for the tests. They activate the machines by using smartphones to scan a QR code and use a dropbox to submit their tests. They receive results within 24 hours via a text message and email.
Universities pay $20 to $40 per test for the service, including the cost of the vending machine.
While found exclusively at college campuses as of today, Clark said he plans to expand into the business community.
Clark also plans to incorporate wastewater testing.
“It just starts with Covid,” he said. “It’s testing wastewater for any other health targets going forward, including, we're working on plans right now to be able to test polio, and whatever the next issue is like monkeypox to be able to test wastewater.”
