Commercialization of the Phase Change Incubator Amy Smith Sarah Bird 12 September 2006

Incubator Overview Keeps things warm Does not require electricity – Thermally charged in water bath or by solar heating Portable Affordable – 24 hour incubator ~ $100 Incubates at one temperature only

How It Works… Utilizes the latent heat of fusion of a phase change material

Incubator History Invented in the early 1990’s by Amy Smith as part of a vaccine project. In late 1990’s, began using the incubator for water quality testing in Uganda, Nicaragua and Nepal. Further developed the incubator and won the BF Goodrich Collegiate Inventors Competition in 1999 Current “final” design has been in use since 2003.

Applications Microbiology – Water quality testing – Incubation of samples during transport – Remote / resource-poor clinics Packaging Infant care Other...

Potential Industries: Microbiology International organizations Governments – water – health Hospitals, clinics, district laboratories Universities Clinical researchers Non-governmental organizations Community-based organizations

Landscape Traditional competition – Laboratory equipment manufacturers Becton, Dickinson and Company 3M, Hach, Millipore, Delagua... – Phase-change specialists Non traditional competition (partners?) – Non-profit groups involved in public health One Health, IDE, AQUATEST

Status State of technology – “Ready” – Further tailor product design, branding, refine manufacturing process, etc... Intellectual Property – No patent available in current state – Potential for further manufacturing advancements which could be protected – Necessary?

Current Outreach People involved with the development of the incubator – Amy Smith – Sarah Bird Collaborators – IRD/AKU/JHU – CDC – IDE – MIT – Susan Murcott, D-Lab, PSC Fellows – Dartmouth, DIT, Fort Lewis College

Short term goals Branding / Marketing Short term / long term manufacturing strategy Fund raising for next stage research ($50K by Dec) Commercialization strategy

Skills Marketing / Sales Manufacturing Supply Chain Developing country experience Health / Microbiology / Lab work Fund raising (non-profit and for-profit)

Expectations Commitment to ethos of the project and the team Creativity Develop a relationship with us Hard work and fun