A Northumbria University student has won the coveted Philips Internship Award at the 2016 RSA Student Design Awards.
Callum Smith picked up the prize for his design, FrailTea, as part of the ‘Good Life’ category, which sought designs for new products or initiatives that could empower people who live with long-term, lifestyle-related health conditions to take a greater role in managing their own care.
FrailTea is a novel new system for collecting and analysing grip data via daily kettle usage, providing caregivers with an accurate daily picture of their patients’ frailty statistics.
Early identification of frailty allows for tailored care planning that enables individuals to live more independently, avoid potentially-devastating trips and falls, and stay out of hospital.
Sevra Davis, director of the RSA Student Design Awards said: “The awards encourage entrepreneurship, creative thinking, business acumen and real-life application.
“The ‘Good Life’ category is important because it encourages development of innovative solutions to help people manage their own care more effectively, which is significant for the future of healthcare and avoiding unnecessary hospital stays where possible.”
Gavin Proctor, director of design innovation at Philips Consumer Lifestyle, and a member of the judging panel for the ‘category, added: “The FrailTea design really stood out as it is a simple-yet-progressive measure that has the potential to be extremely beneficial in supporting our growing elderly population.
“Philips is dedicated to leading the way in co-ordinated digital care, and Callum’s product very much aligns with this vision.”
The RSA Design Awards is the longest-running global student competition in the world and challenges emerging designers at university level to tackle real-world social, environmental and economic issues through design thinking and skills.
Over 900 entries responded to 12 different briefs, which tackle challenges faced by societies across the world, such as depleting resources, increasing populations, ageing demographics and overconsumption.
