Preparations | Reports from the USA

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I’ll be on my way to San Rafael, California. Then Monday, I’ll begin my first day of work at 3rd Stone Designs (3SD). 3SD is a design company that works a great deal on medical devices, in addition to consumer products and solar energy. They partner with Rice and other groups and have produced manufacturable versions of products such as the Dose Right clips and the Pumani bCPAP.¹ I have heard so much about these two devices and this company during my classes at Rice. Both products often serve as models for the success that our own designs can obtain. I am so excited to work with those who have worked so hard on these inspiring designs.

During my preparation for this internship, I was lucky enough to get some preliminary experience with the devices I may be working on this summer. One of the devices I mentioned above is currently one of the most prominent and talked-about devices in the global health department at Rice. The Pumani bCPAP is a device that helps babies with respiratory distress to breath during their first days of life. The device has been a collaboration between engineers at 3SD and students at Rice, and it is currently being implemented on a relatively large scale in hospitals in Malawi.^2,3 However, like all designs of this caliber, there are still minor adjustments and improvements that must be added. One of these necessary adjustments is the attachment mechanism of the tubing to the infant’s hat. Currently, most nurses must use a system of safety pins and rubber bands, and though effective, this is neither the easiest nor the safest method of attachment. Recently, a high school design team devised a simpler method—simply cutting another small section of tubing lengthwise and layering it over the hat and tubing (Fig. 1). The cut tubing grips the tubing beneath it using its tendency to curl. This past year, a Rice freshman design team took the project one step further. In a popular class called ENGI 120, the team made two small devices to cut the tubing appropriately. One cutter looks similar to a stapler and is used to cut small incisions in the hat for the breathing tube to weave through (Fig. 3). The attachment tube is fed through the other cutter, in which a blade slices half of the tube lengthwise (Fig. 4).

I’ve been asked to share and get feedback on these designs during my time at 3SD. I’m especially excited about this assignment since so many different students have already worked hard on the design. I had an opportunity to meet with a member of the ENGI 120 team, and he passed on all of the prototypes and plans. Unfortunately, the most recent cutter had broken during testing. To remedy this, I made a new product using the provided CAD files and the laser cutter at the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) at Rice. With some minor modifications (as the wood available to me was slightly thicker than the wood used for the original designs), I had a working prototype. The design relies on a tight, puzzle-like fit rather than glue, so the dimensions were very precise. In the end, I was proud that I made the necessary adjustments and learned to use the laser cutter, as I’ve never used one before (Fig. 2). I’m hoping that this process was a preview into the range of design techniques I will learn and use this summer.

There are two other interns working at 3SD this summer, and I’m incredibly excited to get to know each of them, as well as the entire staff. I hope for this to be a summer of learning, progress, and hard work, in addition to some fun. I know California is beautiful, and I’ve heard excellent things about 3SD. I am so very blessed to have received this opportunity from Rice BTB, and I hope very much to contribute effectively to my placement this summer. I’d also like to wish luck to all of my fellow BTB interns around the world. I am so excited to hear about the diverse, amazing work they will do in the following months.

More to come in the following days and weeks. Wish me luck!