Shaping The Future

We wish everyone a Very Happy Holiday!  We hope that you will have time to reflect and celebrate with family and friends.  It has been an eventful year and we are looking ahead.

On September 6, we were awarded United States Patent No. 9,433,524 for our Portable Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  This was an important milestone for the Tikü®.  We are working on re-design and fabrication for testing and hopefully, FDA pre-marketing clearance.  This will enable us to continue with serial production of several of the incubators for field testing in Sub-Saharan Africa.  We do not have a timetable for the execution of these events but we are moving towards our goal.

In our last blog, we mentioned that Designs for the World is teaching digital technologies to students in Saint Petersburg and in Tampa.  Together with our collaborative partner, Outlaw Solutions and Concepts, we instruct a class called Introduction to 3D Digital Fabrication Tools in two local technical colleges.  We teach 3D digital design with surface-modeling and parametric CAD software, as well as additive and subtractive prototyping.  Our course has been well-received.  We taught four classes in 2016 but were initially scheduled for half that number.  We shall be expanding our instruction to others in 2017.

We assembled the 3D printers for our classes ourselves.  We were not duly impressed by the market offerings, so we decided to design and build our own 3D printer.  We just successfully tested our second working prototype and shall commence limited production during 2017.  Previously, this industry has focused on hobbyists and clubs.  We have designed our open-source machine for use in schools.  This works well with our business strategy for launching Makerspaces in local institutions.  We want to provide tools to kids for innovation in both STEM and fine arts curricula.

In addition to our own pursuits, we continue to help inventors in developing and prototyping their creations.  We have been working with a range of products in diverse industries.  Our journey has been interesting and the future looks promising.

Then and Now

We have been remiss in keeping the blog active...Sorry!  During the 487 days since our last post, Designs for the World has been very busy with many activities.  First, the Lifestyle™ Table is a now a reality.  The mobile table with induction cooking is now ready for prime time.  It works great and will be offered initially at half the price first posted.  It will soon be available on our Web site.  It will make a perfect addition to your condo balcony, student dormitory, assisted-living room, efficiency apartment, or any other home.

The status of the Tikü® is that we have re-designed the next-gen model to be more versatile and to cost one-third of the former design.  The patent is now under active review.  We are self-funding the project.  When we are able to build several incubators for donation, we have an institutional partner that has offered to work with us in undertaking field evaluation in Sub-Saharan Africa.  We do not have a timetable for introduction but we are moving ahead.

Designs for the World has found a niche in product development, 3D digital prototyping, serial production, and manufacturing liaison.  We have a collaborative partner, who has worked in manufacturing in the plastics industry for 40 years.  With our combined talents, we have worked with individual and corporate clients on innovations for the automotive, hospitality, construction, medical, electronics aftermarket, and entertainment industries.  We have been so busy working on jobs for everyone else that we have had little time to do our own projects.  We are not complaining since the income has kept us alive.

We have become champions for manufacturing.  In most communities, there are 2.5 service sector jobs for every manufacturing job.  Growing manufacturing will have a positive effect on the whole economy.  New technologies have enabled serial production of products without the large budgets of brick-and-mortar companies.  We are now teaching innovation and rapid prototyping with 3D digital tools to students, seniors, and job aspirants.  Working with local non-profit organizations, we are creating innovation labs (also known as makerspaces) in local schools, libraries, and career centers.  Today's economy deals in jobs.  We are working on creation of today's jobs and those of the future.

We have provided a glimpse of Designs for the World without getting too verbose.  Many have given us very positive feedback on our endeavors.  We are not trying to change the world.  We are just attempting to push in the right direction in order to gather a little momentum for the future.

Tables For Life

We are proud to introduce the Lifestyle and Team Spirit Tables.  Sales of these tables will enable us to continue with development, testing, and production of humanitarian innovations like the Tikü™ Neonatal Incubator.  By ordering a table on our Web site, you can enhance your life while helping to save lives.

Both tables are extremely versatile.  They are perfect additions to any home or apartment and may serve in the living room, dining room, den, or patio.  For people living in condominiums, they are an elegant solution to cooking on the balcony.  Students in dormitories or fraternities/sororities can use the table both for cooking and as a desk for studying.  Seniors in apartments or assisted-living facilities can prepare meals in their suites.  For providers of hospitality, the tables are an excellent, in-room solution for cooking in efficiency apartments or extended-stay suites.  Sports fans will love the Team Spirit Tables for tailgate parties or as an addition to a recreation room or a family room.

The tables feature safe and efficient induction cooking, so only the cookware gets hot while the top stays cool.  There is ample storage in the base for cookware and utensils.  The cabinet is completely portable and may be easily moved.  Two of the over-sized casters lock to secure the table.  Each table measures 42" (107 cm) L x 27" (69 cm) W x 29" (74 cm) H.  The table plugs into a residential electric circuit and is rated for 12 A, 120 VAC, 60 Hz, 1 Ø.  The cooking unit has approvals from UL, NSF, and FCC.

We are offering the Lifestyle Table for a pre-production price of US$2,997.00.  We are seeking a minimum refundable deposit of US$199.00 to reserve a table.  When we receive orders for 500 tables, we shall begin manufacturing and shipping.  Large orders of tables will be discounted.  We encourage you to visit our Web site and place your order.  You will have the double benefit of owning an elegant and unique furnishing and appliance and helping to further the production of humanitarian innovations for people in underdeveloped countries and in disaster or war zones.

Tell All of Your Friends About the Crowd Funding for the Tikü™ Neonatal Incubator

We are following the recommendations of many friends from around the world and launching a crowd funding campaign for the Tikü™ Neonatal Incubator on Indiegogo.com from 12 November 2014 through 11 January 2015.  You may connect to our site by clicking on the link to the right of this post.  We hope that you will visit us.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with crowd sourcing, it begins by sharing news of the campaign with your friends and family via email and social media.  These folks pass on the news to their networks, who in turn continue sharing the news.  The people who are contacted are asked to contribute to the campaign to help launch the project.

Our goal is to raise the necessary capital to fabricate several incubators for evaluation.  These will be tested by the students and staff of St. Petersburg College.  We shall then gain approval for manufacturing and quality from the FDA and the ISO.  We want travel to Haiti to demonstrate the pre-production incubators and gift them to caregivers.  When we have completed these steps, we shall be able to meet the requirements of interested agencies and commence commercial production.

We thank you in advance for your help.  Everyone has been most supportive,  when they have learned about our innovation to help reduce global infant mortality.  It is easy to encourage an endeavor that can potentially ameliorate the survival of millions of newborn babies.  Clinicians working in Sub-Saharan Africa have told us the the Tikü™ can be a "game changer".

A Patent for Humanity

The utility patent for the incubator has been filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  Now the long wait commences.  Since there is a backlog of patent applications (584,998) for 8,192 patent examiners, first action on a patent usually comes 18.2 months after submittal and total pendency averages 29.1 months.  Innovations are protected from the date that they are filed but the award of the patent takes some time.

The United States government initiated a program in 2013 to accelerate the review of patents for humanitarian inventions.  The President renewed the program this year, so we have entered the competition.  Winners receive official recognition at a function in Washington, DC and have the review of their patent filings or appeals expedited.  Although there is no monetary award, the public exposure and 'quicker' review are worthwhile.  We have declared our candidacy by entering with the Tikü and are hoping for good results.

Designs for the World is actively seeking seed funding to initiate limited production of the incubator.  In order to begin commercial production, we have been tasked to obtain quality and manufacturing approval by the agencies that are interested in procuring the Tikü.  Furthermore, we want to demonstrate the incubator in the field to humanitarian and governmental organizations that are working with mothers and children.  Our intent is to go to Haiti and/or El Salvador for this part of our mission and gift several of the incubators after our presentation.  Success always comes down to finances but we feel that we are beginning to make headway.

Reaching Out to the Caregivers

We are bringing the news of the Tikü directly to the caregivers.  The most qualified people to address the functionality and utility of the incubator are the physicians, who help infants begin their lives.  We are now reaching out to Neonatologists, Practitioners of Perinatal Medicine, and Pediatricians across America to garner their input and support.

We are seeking feedback from these experts on three points:

1. Do they think that the Tikü could enhance the survival of pre-term or at-risk babies?

2. Do they believe that there is an interest in purchasing the commercial-version of the Tikü by humanitarian organizations, religious missions, and governmental agencies?

3. Are they acquainted with clinicians who offer their expertise in infant care to international humanitarian missions? AND How to we contact these health professionals?  [These are the caregivers working on the 'front lines' with mothers and families in remote and undeveloped regions.]

As with many game-changing innovations, support by qualified and influential Early Adopters leads to acceptance by the whole population.  This 'grass roots' support is helping us to get underway and begin enhancing the chance at life for many of the world's youngest citizens.

Out of Africa

We are continuing our discourse with the Ministers of Health in the nations of Sub-Saharan Africa through the ongoing projects of the World Bank.  These ladies and gentlemen are on the front lines in the fight against infant mortality.  They are working to improve the health of mothers and infants in their countries by investing in their health care systems.  To date, we have corresponded with Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Togo, and Uganda.  The newest citizens of these countries, who struggle to enter the world, will benefit from life-enhancing qualities of the Tikü.

Many regions in these nations have epidemics of malaria, dengue, and/or leishmaniasis.  Funding is allocated to treat these debilitating and often fatal diseases. Since the Tikü has ports fitted with insect mesh, exposure of the infant to the mosquitoes and sand fleas that carry these illnesses is limited, even in outdoor locations or in structures open to the environment.  For patients in these areas with endemic vector-borne diseases, the Tikü offers another life-enhancing feature, reduction of fever.  The incubator functions with water; hence, cool water for reducing body temperature may be used instead of warm water for elevating body temperature.  The mattress will accommodate a toddler up to 74 cm tall.

It is good to be able to offer the end users of the Tikü features of great use to them that are not available in conventional, commercial incubators.  We are working to develop accessories that will broaden the capabilities of the incubator and extend its benefits to children and adults.