Affordable Design of Total Ossicular Replacement Prostheses in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

The objective of this thesis project is to develop an economically viable design for a titanium total ossicular replacement prosthesis (TORP) that caters to the needs of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The author focused on addressing the problem from the manufacturing aspect and two primary approaches, additive manufacturing (AM or...

The V3D socket: Designing a Volume-adjustable, Affordable, 3D printable, Transradial, Prosthetic socket

The conventional fabrication process of prosthetic sockets is known for being labor-intensive and time-consuming. It takes the user to wait 2-5 weeks to receive the prosthetic socket. In addition, most of the conventional sockets have fixed volumes that do not consider the volume fluctuations that the user experience daily because of muscle...

Place for Prosperity: fostering environments for children

The first interactions of the child with its environment can already have long-lasting impacts on its worldview (weltanschauung) and psychoanalytical state. This makes the architecture of housing, especially in poor regions, such as Nalasopara in Mumbai, a critical key point for the development of the next generations. However, after the...

Housing Humanity, Building Locality: Endemic habitation practices driving the reconstruction of a coherent urban locality

The effects of India’s shift towards economic liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation in the mid 1990’s has drastically altered the landscape of its cities. These powerful forces have imposed further spatial disjuncture on an unplanned city. More specifically, forces of contemporary urbanisation plague the developing fabric of Mumbai’s...

The Bio-Nespresso Project: The design of a small-scale manufacturing unit for personalized medicine production

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally. Researchers are continuously investigating new ways to develop and improve cancer treatments. Currently, remarkable progress has been made in immunotherapy. This treatment uses monoclonal antibodies to enhance or recover the patient’s immune system to destroy the cancer cells. However, these...

Liveable and lively outskirts: Transforming the condominium neighbourhoods in the outskirts of Addis Ababa to a place to live and build a life

Urbanisation is the one word that describes best what is currently happening in Africa. Addis Ababa is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa: the number of inhabitants is rising fast. More and more people from the countryside move to the capital. This puts a lot of pressure on the city and causes several problems. One of these problems is...