Rosie Galezia

Final Project

Supporting expressing mothers

In the UK we have some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. Over 10% of mothers doing paid work outside the home report stopping or cutting down breastfeeding due to their work, and only 16% say their employer offers facilities to express milk.

My product supports mothers who are expressing in the workplace or on the go and may not have access to a fridge in which to safely store breast milk.

Refining the brief

I spent some time researching and refining the brief to understand the problems contributing to the UK’s low breastfeeding rates. Initially establishing breastfeeding is a difficult process, and further challenges are raised when mothers feel they need to stop or reduce breastfeeding when they return to work outside of the home.

Portability

Employers in the UK aren’t legally required to provide mothers with facilities to safely store breast milk, so cooling milk to fridge temperature without a power supply was my key focus. Even if fridge access is provided, this doesn’t help with storage on the way home from work, or to the baby’s childcare setting, so portability is crucial.

Universal fit

Existing cooling and storage solutions sold by breast pump and bottle companies generally only work with their own bottles. My design uses a flexible gel pack and an inflating outer to accommodate bottles of various sizes and ensure a snug and secure fit for all.

Temperature monitoring

A temperature sensor embedded into the design provides reassurance that the milk is at a safe temperature.

This allows users to check the temperature without having to open the storage container, which in turn lets heat in. The temperature is displayed on the screen and colour-coded for ease of use.

Live Projects

A 10-day project in response to a brief set by Cambridge Consultants – to help people build a better relationship with personal finance. My response was an in-home smart device with two core functions; acting as multi-factor-authentication that requires user interaction to make an unplanned purchase, and displaying the user’s budgeting and saving progress in a clear, transparent way.

Bean There, Drank That

A group project that brought together all of our electronics and mechanics teaching to date. The brief was to automate the process of making a coffee using an AeroPress by interfacing electronics controls with the mechanical parts that invert and plunge the AeroPress.

I was involved in the mechanics development and fabrication of the prototype. Combining various moving parts and bringing these together harmoniously proved challenging, particularly when milk and water were brought into the mix.

The design underwent several iterations before the final, functional prototype was achieved.