Q: How did you guys start up?
Originally, our design team was part of a global organization called Medical Makers that was focused on prototyping affordable medical solutions for individuals in developing countries. However, due to some differences in the goals of our team and the organization, we decided to split and become ProtoMD in Winter 2019. Our new design team’s goal is to rapidly prototype affordable teaching models to support the learning of human biology on a local and global level. We are currently focused on working with local high schools to create tangible models that will provide hands-on learning experiences for the students. We are excited to work with high school teachers and students directly, to create improved designs to encourage learning. Hopefully, we will expand our reach globally as time progresses, to help those who do not have access to teaching models around the globe!
Q: What types of projects are you working on?
Currently we are working on a project for the Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate Institute and Vocational School’s Biology department. The goal is to create a 3D printed cell model which demonstrates the process of protein synthesis, including translation, transcription and modification and where each of these processes occur within the cell. We are hoping to provide the teacher with several of these models, to allow for their use in a dry lab.
Q: What type of impact are you hoping your projects will have?
Above all, we are hoping to make teaching resources in the field of human health and biology more accessible to everyone. Education is the root cause of many health care problems that exist in our world. If we provide teaching tools to better support the proper education regarding our own biology, (and maybe even make it a little more fun), we hope more students will be interested in furthering their knowledge of biology and healthcare. Many educational models that exist today are extremely expensive. The price of these models often means that local schools cannot afford them. If local schools cannot access these models, one can imagine that they are relatively impossible for schools in developing countries to afford. Long term, we hope to expand our reach to these developing countries, creating inexpensive models that directly address the gaps in their healthcare education.
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