A biomedical engineering professor at Rice University noticed children in Malawi were dying of respiratory illnesses. A device that might save them a) costs $6,000 — too expensive for the poor hospitals there — and b) would break down in the conditions there. So she rigged up something out of spare parts that would do the same thing. Approximate cost: About $350. Lives were saved. And the professor — fittingly — received a Genius Grant to further more work like this. The trick here was to show — as simply as possible — the device she threw together. I was particularly proud of the headline.
Sept. 22, 2016
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