In an example of tech transfer for the public good, an alum of the interior design program and a facilities engineer from the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at The Florida State University have received a patent for their prototype of a portable cradle designed for infants in family homeless shelters. While the space-saving, environmentally sensitive baby bed was designed and constructed for a homeless mother and infant living at Tallahassee’s HOPE Community shelter, it combines form and function in a way that safely brings parent and child closer together, no matter what their circumstances.

The “Cradle of Hope” is the brainchild of interior designer Rachelle McClure and magnet lab employee Sean Coyne. As project partners in a graduate furniture design class led by FSU associate professor Jill Pable, PhD, Coyne and McClure studied the conditions in the bedrooms at the HOPE Community transitional shelter. They noted the tight, communal quarters that families shared while participating in job counseling and other services geared to getting them back on their feet. “Based on their observations, Rachelle and Sean designed a cradle atop a unique cantilever base, which can slide underneath a shelter bunk and out of the way,” Pable explains. “The cradle itself is suspended immediately above the parent’s bed, making for a design that occupies very little floor space — a particularly vital consideration in shelter quarters.”

The design positions the cradle immediately next to the parent, so that he or she can easily comfort the baby while both are resting in their respective bunks. Organic, cotton-canvas fabric softens the sides of the stainless steel-framed cradle, while each end is adorned with recycled, translucent resin panels. The materials can be cleaned easily — an essential feature in a shelter with a constant flow of new residents. And because socialization is important, the Cradle of Hope can be detached from the hideaway cantilever base and carried into the shelter’s communal areas. The goal now is to locate a manufacturer that could make the Cradle of Hope a reality for shelters across the country and even the world, Pable says.

Source: Newswise

Posted July 28th, 2010 under Tech Transfer

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