bio..stories: June 2012

Friday, June 29, 2012

Yesterday i went to the Royal College of Arts Graduate Exhibition.

Every summer, the graduates from all the departments of the RCA show their degree projects to family and friends, art-world insiders and even potential buyers. The exhibition takes places across the College’s two campuses in Battersea and Kensington.

I went to the Kensington campus where the exhibition is massive covering all eight departments of the College. I was really impressed by the imagination and the creativity of all the students but i spent most of my time at the Innovation Design Engineering section.

Several projects tried to address sustainability issues, some attempted to develop new communication platforms while others tried to develop new materials. Most of them involved cutting-edge technology and all the projects were really really interesting.

Some of them made a particular impression on me:

David Stevens designed a new cast that could help the patients with fractures to heal faster and with less pain.

Ho-Tzu Cheng constructed a fume extractor aiming to protect more efficiently the health of the person that is cooking.

To be honest, i was completely ignoring the fact that cooking fumes are considered as a prevailing factor for lung cancer in non-smokers. Apparently there are several epidemiological studies mostly focused on Asian populations like this but also in the USA.

Another project that i found very interesting was the platform Genobi designed by Joel Trotter. This platform will help people understand their genetic background and make the necessary lifestyle adjustments to optimise their health.

Luc Fusaro constructed the SmartTouch, a smart and easy to use monitor for the glucose level in our organisms. Diabetics only need to have a smartphone where they adjust this small device. This project made me think of Peter Diamandis's TED lecture.