Challenge
Based in Hobart, Workforce Health Assessors (WHA) specialise in pre-employment medicals and onsite workplace health assessments of new and current employees’ suitability for safely performing duties required at their workplace. As the number one growing service provider of intuitive and innovative assessments through a proprietary software platform, WHA helps identify potential human risks against a number of factors including relevant history of each person, physical, mental and medical, both using past and current known and tested elements, and careful consideration of the environment and risks and provides recommendations.
After the launch of their original online system in 2005, WHA identified an opportunity to improve the pre-employment screening processes by employing artificial intelligence to better understand potential and evolving risks in untapped employment sectors. Through the development of the novel Quescreen platform, health assessments and risk profiles could be streamlined and adaptive through intelligent stand-alone questionnaire screening.
However, WHA required additional expertise in machine learning to develop the digital tool into an innovative product that could adapt to a variety of consumer needs.
Solution
To capitalise on this opportunity and position themselves as a world leader in the space, WHA engaged in a SIEF STEM+ Business project. The research aims to develop the Quescreen platform technology into a sophisticated, intelligent and flexible questionnaire screening tool that facilitates a seamless connection between industry risk profiling, down to a role that evolves over time to stay current, and fast accurate collection of data from individuals to create a smart risk analysis report for decision makers and managers.
In partnership with the University of Technology Sydney and under the guidance of Associate Professor Dr Farookh Khadeer Hussain, WHA was introduced to Dr Fan Dong who had recently completed his dual PhD studies at UTS in Decision Systems and e-Service Intelligence, and found him to be an excellent candidate due to his research interests in adaptive and machine learning, text classification, and previous industry experiences.
Results
With a growing team of developers, PhD students and a graphic designer around him as Quescreen hit its checkpoints and sped towards commercialisation, Dr Dong was able to both publish a paper and gain valuable experience in recruiting extra hands and additional specialists, management and communication skills, transitioning from an independent researcher to a skilled team leader.
Through the STEM+ Business program, WHA were able to fast-track the development and commercialisation of their novel risk screening platform, determining the applications of algorithm and artificial intelligence technology, and how to best utilise them. WHA are now on track to commercialise the platform in June 2020.
“We have found the collaboration between CSIRO, UTS and WHA to be a really good fit for developing the Quescreen project. The combination of researchers, programmers and commercial business provides an exciting team approach to posing a real-world problem and developing and experimenting with potential solution and then building a commercial product. We strongly believe that Quescreen will be very successful and quickly establish itself as the new accepted benchmark to understanding human risk and will evolve and stay current due to the inbuilt AI and Machine learning technologies across a wide range of industry and geographic markets.”
— Jason Unwin, Managing Director, Workforce Health Assessors
"The SIEF STEM+ program is fantastic due to its very nature of supporting universities and SMEs to collaboratively develop commercially oriented work."
— Dr Farookh Khadeer Hussain, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney
"This SIEF STEM+ project, Quescreen, exceeds my expectations. I am very honoured to be able to participate in this project and become a crucial member of the project team."
— Dr Fan Dong, SIEF STEM+ Business Fellow, University of Technology Sydney
For further information and to apply, please get in touch with our dedicated STEM+ Business Manager.
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