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“It was very exciting to win the award because of how much work our team put into it,” says project coordinator Camille Dansereau. “We were all just overjoyed that we actually got an award from a prestigious design community.”

 

Core77 Design Awards is an annual competition that recognizes all areas of design enterprise, allowing both students and professionals to showcase their work.

“None of us really expected it — it was quite an honor to receive this award,” says recent Wilson School of Design graduate Clarissa Martins. “It was nice to have the hyperbaric team recognized due to the fact that it gave more opportunity to educate people about hyperbaric chambers as there are mountaineers who are cautioned to have awareness and can potentially save lives.”

Hyperbaric chambers are used to treat high altitude illness (HAI), common to those who climb above 8000 feet elevation. Symptoms of HAI range from headaches and fatigue to being short of breath, even while resting, and potential death. The chambers provide controlled oxygen to the body and can simulate a descent of 1500 to 2500m, helping to minimize HAI symptoms and likelihood of death.

 

 “The idea came from our instructor Sue Fairburn,” says Dansereau. “We had to do a lot of research on it because none of us had any previous knowledge of what it was. It was a very big investment research wise, understanding what it does and how it works.”

 

The students spent Monday to Friday from opening to closing hours on campus, working on the design for the hyperbaric chamber. It involved experimentation along with interviewing experts from a variety of fields such as mountain medicine, inflatables, and manufacturing.

 

“We were constantly researching and reading, evaluating and re-evaluating, just to make sure that we came up with a solution,” says Martins. “It is also a reason why [being recognized] was rewarding because we spent so much time working on it.”

 

The Alta hyperbaric chamber weighs 5.12 lbs, making it 33.5 per cent lighter than the current lightest chamber on the market, the Ultra Lite Gamow. Creating a light product was a priority to the students, as accessibility appeals to hikers.

 

“The rolltop feature on it came from our want to eliminate the zipper because that was one of the heavier points on the other models currently on the market,” says Dansereau. “We wanted to reduce weight significantly because that’s, to our understanding, one of the reasons why hyperbaric chambers are not used as much currently.”

 

While the students had experience working with other commercial equipment and companies throughout their program, the hyperbaric chamber was completely new to the team. However, the students worked together to overcome this challenge and complete the project on time.

 

“One of the biggest takeaways from this whole experience was having a diverse team with a variety if skills and good communication played a key factor in our design process,” says Martins.

 

Each year, third year students from the product design program at Wilson School of Design create commercial equipment in their studio class. To learn more about the product design program visit https://www.kpu.ca/design/product-design.

 

“I really enjoyed working together as a team,” says Dansereau. “We have a great group of people, and it was just a really great experience to be project coordinator and lead them, but also work together and produce something that can potentially help people in emergency situations.”