Marquette associate professor in biomedical engineering Lars Olson left for San Francisco today, soon to be followed by his student team of Alex Loy, Marissa Naslund, Alex Palutsis, Charlie Shen and Mike Siebert.
Olson and his engineering senior design team will exhibit their project, a human-powered nebulizer, at the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance's annual March Madness for the Mind showcase Saturday, March 27.
The Marquette team was one of 16 to be recognized as a top Excellence and Entrepreneurship Team by the NCIIA, which works with many of the nation's leading universities and colleges to help students grow their innovative technologies from concept to commercialization.
As of Monday, March 22, Marquette had advanced to the top three finalists, thanks to a video it created about its prototype for a competition hosted by Inventors Digest, the nation's longest-running publication for independent and professional innovators, in conjunction with the showcase.
The top winner will be announced Saturday at the showcase.
A nebulizer is a device that turns liquid medicine into a vapor that can be inhaled deep into the lungs. The biggest problem commercial nebulizers face is their need for electric compressors or batteries -- luxuries not always afforded in developing countries where respiratory diseases is a serious issue.
Olson has worked with student teams since 2005 to develop a human-powered nebulizer, beginning with a stepper design machine, that functions much like a stair climber. This year's team, however, refined the prototype. The new design replaces the electric compressor with bicycle petals and a 20-ounce soda bottle to produce and regulate the air flow.
"We think it's really going to be better in terms of low cost and much easier to build around the world," says Olson. "The biggest challenge was coming up with a solution that's really going to be reliable and robust. I think we've finally done it with this bicycle design.
"Bicycles last forever," he says, glancing at the 20-year-old bike sitting in his office. "That thing is bullet proof."
Inspired by consultation from with industrial designers at Trek Bicycle Corporation, the Marquette team evolved the nebulizer in a way that keeps costs down. Olson hopes to keep the cost of the product at $25.
But this competition isn't only about the device, he says.
"What we also needs is a network of community health workers -- people who are trained to use it -- that can be close to those in need. It's another real challenge to create this global network of health workers."
He's currently working with Dr. Therese Lysaught, a professor of theology at Marquette, to deploy people along with the devices around the world.
Now all he and his team have to do is convince the judges in San Fransisco of their product's value.
"I think we have an in, in that our project is designed to help the most people," says Olson. "More people suffer from respiratory disease than from water born illnesses, an issue many of the other projects focused on. So, we have that argument to make to the judges -- this is very badly needed."
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
