Week 3

During the ICPD tutorial in Week 3, we learnt how to use SCAMPER to narrow down our ideas and choose one that is able to fit the purpose best. SCAMPER is an acronym, and each letter represents a different idea that we can use to modify and improve existing products.

• S stands for Substitute, in which we can remove undesirable parts of an item and replace it with a better alternative.
• C stands for Combine, in which we can merge the positive aspects of two or more ideas together to achieve a different product or process that is multipurpose.
• A stands for Adapt, where we adapt the purpose of the product to serve another purpose.
• M stands for Modify, where we can change part of the product or distort it in an unusual way to better suit our current needs.
• P stands for Put to Another Use, in which we put our current solution to serve other purposes.
• E stands for Eliminate, in which we remove certain parts of the product to simplify it.
• R stands for Reverse, in which a product works in reverse or in a different order than intended.

Besides SCAMPER, we also revisited the COWS matrix and how it is able to allow us to select which ideas are feasible to use and which ideas are not realistic, based on a few requirements such as budget, project timeline, technical feasibility and operational feasibility. The COWS matrix has 4 components.

• The first component of the COWS is Criteria, which form the basis of the evaluation in which we decide on the needs of the product and thus the criteria needed to achieve the product's purpose.
• The second components of COWS is Options, in which ideas are formed and possible materials that can be used to achieve the product design are considered.
• The third component for COWS is Weightage, where the importance of the criteria with respect to the relevance to our product's purpose is considered and how important it is to have a certain criteria over another as it can affect the properties of the product. (In other words, the higher the weightage of a certain criterion, the more important that criterion is)
• The fourth component for COWS is Score, in which we grade the options based on the weightage against the criteria to find the most suitable material to be used for our product design.

By using the COWS matrix, we are able to select the best match between design requirements of the product and material attributes. The materials selected should be able to meet the service requirements, economic requirements and fabrication requirements of the product.

During the Week 3 Lesson, using the SCAMPER format, we have come up with different ideas that are part of our research topic.

Focus Area/Research Gap

Efficient storage of vaccines

Main Idea

Reduce wastage when transporting vaccines
Ensure that vaccines are stored correctly

• Idea 1: An insulated box that has a battery to power the cooling unit for a prolonged period of time.
• Idea 2: An insulated box that has solar panels on the top to be self sustaining.
• Idea 3: An insulated box with a built-in refrigeration system.
• Idea 4: Transportation of organs to rural areas.
• Idea 5: An insulated box with modular parts that are interchangeable, enabling it to serve and hold different vaccines.

The feasibility analysis for these 5 ideas can be found below.

Figure 1. Feasibility Analysis for Idea 1

Figure 2. Feasibility Analysis for Idea 2

Figure 3. Feasibility Analysis for Idea 3

Figure 4. Feasibility Analysis for Idea 4

Figure 5. Feasibility Analysis for Idea 5

Ideas 3 and 5 are the only two ideas that fit within the budget and the project timeline, thus these two ideas will be the only ones that will undergo the next round of COWS decision matrix.

The criteria we have chosen for our ideas are cost, transportability, availability of parts, sanitary requirements and thermal sensitivity.

• Cost: The cost should be relatively low as it should be very affordable for companies/ hospitals to use and implement. Cost of the materials should be cheap so that it can be mass produced.
• Transportability: The product should be easy to transport as it is meant to be transported to different countries globally
• Availability of parts: Parts need to be readily available for us to be able to achieve our product design. Lack of certain parts could result in an inefficient product.
• Sanitary requirements: The vaccines will be injected into the human body, and the interior of the vaccine box should be as clean as possible to prevent the vaccines inside from being contaminated with germs or viruses.
  
• Thermal Sensitivity: The vaccines should be kept at a very low temperature. It should have low heat capacity and heat conductivity to prevent the vaccines from spoiling and becoming ineffective.

Figure 6. COWS matrix for ideas 3 and 5

With Idea 5 having the highest score of 300, we have decided to proceed with the idea of an insulated box with modular parts that are interchangeable, enabling it to serve and hold different vaccines, as it meets all the criteria.

We also had our first practical session in the lab for this week.

The team was tasked with taking apart and studying a coffee maker to find out what the different components of a coffee maker are, and how they all come together to form a functioning machine. The main purpose of this activity was to determine how to reduce the energy consumption of the coffee machine.

During the practical at W319, our group was split into two different teams.

• The first team was in charge of reverse engineering the coffee maker and finding out the chemical engineering principles that the coffee maker possesses. To do this, we dismantled the coffee maker part by part before analysing the different components that make up the coffee maker. Through this, we understood that every miniscule detail played an important part in the operation of the coffee maker.
• The second team was in charge of determining how much energy was consumed by the coffee maker. We were in charge of finding out how much energy was consumed by the current model of the coffee maker. To do that, the actual amount of energy that was transferred to the coffee had to be determined.