Iowa State Engineers Create Innovative Disaster Relief Container for 3M Challenge
The team of ISU engineering students competed in the inaugural 3M Disruptive Design Challenge on
Their mission was to create a disaster relief container that could withstand a 150-foot fall (that's nearly the width of a football field, and 40 feet higher than
"It's like a glorified egg drop you would have done in high school," said
Everything inside - medical supplies including three, one-liter glass bottles - had to survive both the drop and three minutes immersed in water. And every container had to be repurposed in some way.
Here's the twist: the containers could only be held together using 3M adhesives. 3M wanted to see how students could improve design issues in these air-drop containers by looking to adhesives technology and bonding solutions, said
From trial and error to a flawless finish
Some teams had class time to design and build their containers, but
"This has been a great opportunity to network with 3M employees and get to know the company," said
Students cut holes into the top of the box, removing some of its weight. Honeycomb cardboard was layered on the bottom to crumple on impact, similar to the hood of a car crumpling during a crash. They put expanding polyurethane foam inside the box to cushion a smaller box containing all of the medical supplies, all of which were covered in bubble wrap. Fins on the box top made it aerodynamic, allowing it to self-orient during the drop and land upright on the collapsible cardboard.
Brennan's family owns a bridge construction company, giving him and the team access to a crane. They took prototypes to his farm twice, testing the drop at half the competition height. During the first drop the box bounced and everything inside shattered. So they went back to the lab and created a second prototype, this time with the cardboard and fins. The second test drop was a success.
Each team had to show the judges how their container could be repurposed during a crisis. Furey asked
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