College of Business Alumna Creates Life-Saving Technology

An alumna of Florida Atlantic University’s College of Business is making waves for her company that aims to reduce deaths from blood loss.

Hannah Herbst, ’20, and her team developed AutoTQ, an automated tourniquet that applies pressure to stop blood loss with the touch of a button and offers step-by-step instructions for the user.

“The biggest issue with conventional tourniquets is there is a very high failure rate,” Herbst said. “Research shows that the first hour after a traumatic injury is the most critical for treatment. Blood loss deaths can be preventable, so we wanted to create a solution.”

AutoTQ is already being used on emergency response vehicles and in outpatient surgical procedures in Florida; Herbst envisions that AutoTQ will eventually be placed in hospitals, airports and other public areas.

This isn’t the first innovative creation from Herbst: she created a reusable bandage that stops the migration of deadly bacteria in the wounds of post-operative patients using shark skin while at FAU. She was honored in Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2018 for a device she invented that captures energy from ocean waves.

Herbst attended FAU High School while earning a bachelor’s degree in management information systems with a concentration in business analytics.

“We are very proud of Hannah’s latest innovative technology dedicated to saving lives,” said Daniel Gropper, Ph.D., dean of FAU’s College of Business.  “Hannah exemplifies what is possible with brains, hard work, an entrepreneurial spirit and the opportunities in our American free enterprise economic system.”

For Herbst, her education at FAU prepared her to take chances on her inventions.

“I had some great mentors at FAU and working on various projects allowed me to be creative and to learn to solve problems. It made it possible for me to be an entrepreneur and not be afraid of failure,” Herbst said.

-FAU-