The Global Health Design Collaborative Vaccine Carrier Team, made up of students from the Case School of Engineering, is focused on designing a solution to address specific issues encountered when delivering vaccines from health care facilities to patients in low and middle income countries.

They had hoped to spend their spring semester working on a set of ambitious goals, including establishing an organized design documentation system, gaining further feedback and improving their current design through the spring break study abroad trip to Uganda, and by participating in regional and national design competitions.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 forced them to reevaluate their plans. The team transitioned from preparing for their now-canceled trip at Sears think[box] to working from home, remaining connected with peers and faculty to continue peer review of their design and record video demonstrations of their latest vaccine carrier prototype in order to prepare for upcoming design contests.

Their efforts resulted in a first-prize award at the One Page for One World competition at Ohio University, and recognition as a finalist at the Rice 360° Design Competition—both held virtually this spring.

The extra work the team put into their demonstration videos also opened the door to interactions with healthcare professionals in Uganda, who provided feedback on the design as well as valuable records for their design documentation.

“I am grateful that my teammates kept a positive mindset and overcame the burdens during this challenging time,” shared Bill Ding. “Our enthusiasm, as well as the support from peers and faculty advisors, allowed us to achieve more than what we had expected, even when staying at home.”

The prototype videos are available to view in two versions, a three-minute pitch and the full-length demonstration.

Members of the team:

• Braden Lamberski
• Alan Chen
• Cindy Wu
• Yuliang (Bill) Ding
• Alexandra Weinhofer