BACKGROUND
This project was performed as our master's thesis work during the spring of 2013 in the master's programme Industrial Design Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology.
The idea of the project started to emerge during the summer of 2012 during a conversation with friends who are in need of taking biopharmaceuticals regularly due to their chronic diseases. When they travel, they need to bring a medical cooler in order to transport their temperature sensitive medications. The medical coolers, which our friends had used, were however surrounded with a complex of problems concerning both the performance and the aesthetics, which evoked the desire to improve the product. The purpose of this master’s thesis was therefore to design and develop a medical cooler with improved cooling capacity in order to simplify travelling for users who are prescribed with biopharmaceuticals.
The concept Away features a reliable medical cooler specifically designed for injection pens with biopharmaceutical substances. Away possess an improved design that extends the cooling time and enhances the overall user experience both by intuitive layout and appealing appearance. The design of Away is adapted to the use scenario of aircraft travelling and is developed to be easy to handle during the entire travelling scenario.
THE CONCEPT | AWAY
Away includes an ice pack, an adjustable shoulder strap and a gadget of thermal control. The concept Away allows users prescribed with biopharmaceuticals to travel for at least 3-4 weeks with room for spare medications. The cooling duration is extended to 20 hours in order to make it possible for these users to travel to far off destinations and live a flexible lifestyle.
The interior is designed to provide an intuitive and organised layout that will enhance the user-friendliness of the cooler. Away therefore consists of three compartments; two medical compartments on each side and one ice compartment in the middle. The layout enables the security personnel at airports to quickly get a good overview of the content in the cooler and thereby reduce the time that the cooler needs to be open during a screening session.
Away features a gadget which provides the user with feedback about elapsed time, current and ambient temperature and estimated remaining time. The gadget also consists of a warning system, which alarms when the temperature is about to reach a critical level. The alarm is only visual in order to reduce the stress and attentiveness of a beeping or vibrating alarm, which may cause suspiciousness at airports or on-board aircraft.
DESIGN PROCESS
A functional prototype was built In order to properly evaluate the cooling capacity as well as to evaluate the user’s impressions. Away was appreciated due to enabling a feeling of reliability, durability and quality and all participants stated that they would prefer Away instead of other medical coolers on the market.
Thank you for viewing our project!
/ Sofia Alvenby & Mikaela Rehnmark
