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The Science Times today features a story both inspiring for its design thinking and heart-breaking for the problem it addresses. Design That Matters has contributed its efforts toward a low-cost neo-natal infant incubator...made from car parts. We love projects like this, and look forward to the term "organic resourcing" finding its way into the design vernacular alongside its like-minded sibling, "appro-tech". Here are a couple snippets from the article:

"It's so frustrating to see these preventable deaths," he said. "They won't name babies in Aceh, Indonesia, until they're two months old. It's a cultural adaptation to expect a death."

[...]

In truth, experts say, the developing world doesn't need more incubators. It needs incubators that work. Over the years, thousands have been donated from rich nations, only to end up in "incubator graveyards--most broken, some never opened. According to a 2007 study from Duke University, 96 percent of foreign-donated medical equipment fails within five years of donation--mostly because of electrical problems, like voltage surges or brownouts or broken knobs, or because of training problems, like neglecting to send user manuals along with the devices.

Read the whole thing here.

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