These were the best sustainable healthcare ideas

At the Sustainable Healthcare Challenge last Monday, engineers, healthcare professionals and policy-makers interacted in the auditorium to find ways to make and keep healthcare accessible, affordable and sustainable. The jury, consisting of Richard Goossens (Faculty of Industrial Design) and Rob Mudde (Executive Board), selected two winners:

The team led by Nicole Hunfeld (Project leader Sustainable Erasmus MC) and Anne van der Eijk (OR manager LUMC) aims to reduce waste from operations with their proposal in the theme Circular health business operations. Goossens writes: ‘They focused on a frequently used product in the operating theatre that is only used once and then discarded. This team is working hard to make it reusable and they already have a 3D printed prototype. With the prize (5,000 euros, ed), we are encouraging them to take the next step towards actual implementation.’

The other winning team was led by Jenny Dankelman (Mechanical Engineering faculty) and Jan Carel Diehl (Industrial Design faculty). They won in the Social & global challenges theme with a ‘box’ (to be specified) that aims to make primary school children aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Goossens: ‘It’s good to start raising awareness there already. The prize encourages the team to think even further towards the young generation by exploring, in addition to the box, which communication tools you could use for that young generation (tiktok, youtube).’

The brainstorming afternoon marked the kick-off of TU Delft Health Month with a whole agenda full of activities still to come.