At the Global Grad Show, students address some of the world’s most pressing problems. Many pf the projects on display provide solutions to global issues, including sanitation, refugee displacement and education. Below we highlight the projects that aim to ‘do good’ and provide solutions and relief to the developing world.
At the Global Grad Show, students address some of the world’s most pressing problems. Many pf the projects on display provide solutions to global issues, including sanitation, refugee displacement and education. Below we highlight the projects that aim to ‘do good’ and provide solutions and relief to the developing world.
Portable Delivery Stool - Amar Nath Shaw
As per World Health Organisation, it was estimated that in 2015, roughly 303, 000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth. Almost all of these deaths occurred in low-resource settings, attributable to a lack of access to skilled routine and emergency care.
Offering a low cost alternative delivery method to emergency deliveries, this portable stool designed by Amar Nath Shaw from India could save lives by combatting problems caused by accidental delivery outside a medical facility. The stool, made of a lightweight, low cost plastic, enables a mother to give birth in a traditional squatting position. The stool is wrapped in a mat that unfolds, offering a clean delivery surface, and comes with a basic delivery kit inside.
Saathi: An Educational aid - Shubham Sultania
Inspired by the educational gap between a rural student and an urban student, ‘Saathi’ is a light weight school bag which opens up as a reading-writing surface for a rural student. It is designed to provide ease in sitting cross-legged while studying, both at home and at school, and body posture of the future generation. Using a simple pivot, when opened it becomes a table and when closed is a bag.
Puppy Light - Mohammad Ghasemi, Nima Sharifi
‘Puppy Light’ is a fantasy reading lamp and toy for children to study and play with at a refugee camp. It is made from plywood and Plexiglas and powered by solar energy. It’s charged during the day when children play it, and at night they can use it as study lights. the light was inspired by the Nostalgic sense of sewing doll with needle and thread with the hope of providing children in deprived areas an opportunity to play and study like other children in the world.
K’ili’s - Camila Astorga
K’ili’s is a social project to provide free customized shoes to impoverished children in Bolivia who suffer because of absent or ill-fitting shoes. Both these problems can cause several health complications, possibly even death. By providing shoes, the feet will be allowed to grow naturally and away from disease, problems caused by soil transmitted diseases and parasites can be prevented. K’ili’s will measure the children’s feet to provide the right size, and offer the kids their choice of color and model, according to their desires and necessities. Made from sustainable, local, and 100% biodegradable materials, once the shoes wear out, they will be ready to be returned to the earth.
Solar Lamp for Rural India - Nishith Parikh
This lamp product is an alternative to the conventional solar lamp design of the government-provided study lamps in rural India. Apart from being much more aesthetically pleasing and durable, it is also much more versatile and can be used as a torch, table lamp, night lamp, or a bulb-light. Additionally, this lamp will dramatically reduce both the manufacturing cost and maintenance and repair cost of the current design by around 60%.
Co-life water purification system- Tuomas Burakowski, Tuomas Jussila
When two third-year design students realized that 480 billion plastic bottles are sold world-wide each year, they decided to stimulate innovation in re-purposing of material as a part of a more sustainable future and take a step forward in the journey to provide universal access to clean drinking water.
Co-life is a portable water filter system for use in low-infrastructure environments. It utilizes soft-drink bottles for holding both the “dirty” and the “clean” water. A basic bicycle tire pump forces the dirty water through a low-cost ceramic filter removing harmful microbes. Easy access to the interior makes it easy to clean and replace the filter when required.
Light - Zahra Ghiasi
Zahra’s ‘Light’ is an interesting take on the traditional use of lanterns and burners. Each individual has his or her own light that they can charge wirelessly, and carry around the house, creating a new story about the use of lamps and family meetings. When the family is gathered, the light from each person’s lamp creates a bright room, create a pleasant and unique family light experience.
UNU - Franco La Puente
UNU is an autonomous and sustainable low-cost water purifier that provides clean water to low-income communities that don’t have a constant source of trustworthy water. The design was inspired by a conversation Franco had with his father about living on a beach, entirely independent from water and electricity companies. By using solar heat or firewood, the water is evaporated from one compartment and condense it in a different compartment, obtaining pure and salt free water, making the distillation process completely independent of electricity. By using materials such as high temperature resistance clay and wood, different Peruvian communities can manufacture this design themselves.
GOMI – Anmol Gupta
‘Gomi’ was designed for rural Indian women to aid in their daily task of collecting Cow dung collection by limiting direct contact with the fresh manure. The two part design was made keeping in mind rural India’s conditions and customs. The first part, the scraper, is used to push all the dung from around the ground into the body. Then, the part can be attached to the body, which can carry up to 8kg dung, ensuring all the dung stays inside while transferring the body outside the collection point. This design facilitates ergonomic grip and no contamination while holding firm to traditions.
Water Filter Bottle for CRPF Jawans - Devanshi Saksena
With a brother in the police service, the difficulty that many Indian soldiers find in getting portable water in remote places across the country became more personal to Devanshi. Her water filter bottle was designed to protect armed soldiers from water-borne diseases by providing them with clean drinking water at all places.
The Central Reserve Police Force soldiers have to travel 30-40 km on foot every day carrying bullet-proof jackets, weapons, ammunition and rucksacks, together weighing around 25kg, including 2 liters of potable water in reused Coca Cola bottles, which hardly lasts for one day. In most places, they find contaminated water which cannot easily be filtered by chlorine tablets. Sometimes, soldiers have to risk going to inhabited areas just to get potable water. Devanshi has designed a pump-based water filter bottle for CRPF soldiers which is lightweight, durable, soundproof, easy to carry, use, and has a capacity of storing 1.7L of water.
The bottle is designed in a bean shape and has three main parts: a filter, a manual pump, and a bottle. A base cap houses the filter and pump which are connected by a pipe. The filter and pump can be removed from the base camp and put into a water source to pump in clean filtered water into the water bottle. After pumping, the filter can be taken from the water, wound up, and secured back into the base cap.