For those of you that didn’t have the chance to read my blog from last summer, I’ll do a short introduction. My name’s Bailey, and I just graduated in May from Rice University, with a B.S. in Bioengineering and a minor in Global Health Technologies. During my 4 years, I’ve worked on a number of global health devices, most recently an incubator. Like all senior engineers at Rice, I just completed a capstone design project. Working with a team of 4 other engineering students (Team IncuBaby), we designed and built a neonatal incubator for use in the developing world. I’ll be talking a lot about this project, as it is one of two technologies that I’ll be spending most of my time on this summer.  Last summer, I interned at 3rd Stone Design in San Rafael, CA. You can read about my experiences there in prior blog posts.

This summer I’m interning as a program associate at the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) at Rice University. Unlike the other Houston interns, I’m working directly with the BTB technology team on just a few, specific projects, including IncuBaby and AutoSyP. I’ll give you a quick overview of each of these devices, and we’ll get into specifics in future posts!

AutoSyP

AutoSyP is an automatic syringe pump that accurately delivers intravenous drugs in a controlled manner. It began as a senior design project in the 2012-2013 school year and has since transitioned to be a BTB project. In July, two associates are bringing the device to Malawi to continue gathering clinical data and feedback. My primary task is to replicate the current model, so that two devices can be taken to Malawi. This has involved searching through prior documentation, learning to use a number of machines in the OEDK, and (as with most engineering projects) a bit of trial and error.

IncuBaby

IncuBaby is a low-cost neonatal incubator, and, as I mentioned above, I’ve been working on it for the past year. In a basic sense, it is a wooden box with acrylic windows. Two heating pads provide heat to the inner compartment, and both are controlled by a microcontroller. The heating pads turn on and off depending on the temperature of the infant, which is measured with a simple temperature probe strapped to the infant’s abdomen. The entire device is laser cut and can be flat packed for easy shipping. We’ve gotten a lot of cool press, including being featured in Smithsonian Mag, as well as on local Univision stations (for those who speak Spanish). This summer, I’ll be making improvements to the current design and adding features, but primarily I’ll be preparing the next BTB associate to begin full time work on the device next year.

I’m looking forward to spending my summer learning fabrication techniques, mentoring others, and, above all, working on global health projects that are close to my heart.