Applied Researcher
Program Information
About This Program
PAIR — Phi's Applied and Innovative Research program — integrates applied scientific research with innovation and entrepreneurship. I was selected as one of the top 10% of innovators among all candidates, and worked in a multidisciplinary team alongside business, engineering and medical students on applied projects aimed at a real market need.
The program runs over two years. Its first year is structured as four phases — problem definition, ideation and evaluation, business and marketing, and prototyping — each ending in a deliverable defended in front of a scientific committee or a panel of industry professionals. The training was held in Amman, Jordan, from February to November 2019, and was supported and funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Jordan.
My team's outcome was Flex-mattress, a segmented hospital mattress and frame taken from problem statement through to a functional physical prototype, a CAD model and a full commercial strategy.
The Four Phases
- Scientific problem definition. Conducted qualitative market research to define a scientific problem, then wrote a research proposal and presented it to an experienced scientific committee.
- Ideation and evaluation. Applied the Delft industrial design approach to move from candidate ideas to an evaluated product concept.
- Business and marketing. Developed a go-to-market strategy for a hardware product — new product launch, competitive analysis, positioning, messaging and pricing — built around a unique value proposition.
- Prototyping and digital fabrication. Fabricated a functional hardware prototype using 3D printing, CNC, laser cutting and moulding, and presented it with the accompanying business strategy to an array of experts and industry professionals.
Outcomes
- Selected as one of the top 10% of innovators among all program candidates.
- Defined a scientific problem from qualitative market research and defended the resulting research proposal before a scientific committee.
- Applied the Delft industrial design approach to prototype a functional hardware-based product.
- Formulated a comprehensive product marketing strategy introducing a unique value proposition for a hardware product in the market.
- Fabricated the prototype using 3D printers, CNC, laser cutting and moulding, and presented it alongside a detailed business strategy.
- Awarded a Certificate of Participation on 26 January 2020 for the nine-month Innovative Applied Research Training, covering scientific problem definition, product design, business commercialization and digital fabrication.