Global Health
Technologies
Design Challenge
Project Sites

• MEXICO
• HONDURAS
• GUATEMALA
• NICARAGUA
• HAITI
• BOTSWANA 
• LESOTHO 
• MALAWI 
• SIERRA LEONE
• SWAZILAND
• TANZANIA
• ECUADOR

CALL for Global Health Technology Design Challenge PROJECT IDEAS

What is Beyond Traditional Borders?

Beyond Traditional Borders is a new unique, multidisciplinary educational program with the aim of training the next generation of students to reach beyond traditional disciplinary and geographic borders to understand, address, and solve global health disparities. The goal of this curriculum is twofold: first, we seek to educate students to understand the health-related needs of developing countries and, second, we seek to inspire our students to become leaders who will guide the development of technology to meet the health needs of people in the world’s least developed countries (LDCs).

Beyond Traditional Borders brings together faculty from Rice University and our partner institutions in the Texas Medical Center, including Baylor College of Medicine, UT Health Science Center, UT School of Public Health and UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, to develop educational programs and research experiences focused on applied biotechnology and bioengineering to solve international health challenges.

Beyond Traditional Borders brings together science, engineering, social science, humanities, and policy students beginning in the freshman year and culminates with a capstone research/design experience in the senior year. Mentored by interdisciplinary faculty teams, students will either design and implement solutions to real-world international health challenges or participate in focused research projects with direct applicability to important world health issues.

Global Health Challenge Design Course

Students in the Beyond Traditional Borders program will participate in a Global Health Challenge design course, undertaking a year-long project. Some teams will develop designs from initial concept, to prototype, and finally to device evaluation. Other teams will undertake year-long research projects focused on global health challenges. All students will learn the fundamentals of the research and design process. Design for universal use –i.e. allowance for variances in education, infrastructure, and other resources– will be emphasized, as the target settings for these health technologies is the developing world.

Call for Global Health Challenge Design & Research Project Proposals

We are in the initial stages of assembling a portfolio of global health challenge design and research projects for these multi-disciplinary teams of undergraduates. Through annual retreats and conferences, patterned after the process used to identify Grand Challenges in Global Health put forth by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the NIH, we intend to identify and refine appropriate and necessary design and research projects. 

We would value your assistance in this endeavor, particularly to:

• brainstorm ideas for
  1) design projects that would meet health needs in your clinics
  2) medical challenges that might have a new technology solution
• identify possible design and/or research projects; can be big or small!
• provide continuing feedback on and suggestions for additional design and research projects