RIFSK - Refugee in Flight Shelter Kit Frame

A Brief Synopsis

RISFK - Refugee in Flight Shelter Kit was one of the 6 projects offered in EID-101 class, Engineering Design and Problem Solving. As conflict and adverse environmental changes uproot communities in Sub-Saharan Africa, RiFSK addressed the lack of shelter that these individuals face in transit. In our team’s venture to design a portable, effective, and biodegradable shelter, we adhered to the principles of simplicity, efficiency, and self-sufficiency to develop the model.

The team was divided into seven smaller groups to better specialize on the numerous facets of RiFSK: four dedicated to the development and analysis of the design, two to its logistics, and one to the coordination of the different elements of the design process.

I was a part of the frame team, along with 3 more students, which was tasked with designing a frame design that could be built in less than a minute from local resources - bamboo and yarn. Following other design iterations, our final design characterized by its dome structure, is arguably the simplest RiFSK design to date. I got this design from a bow and how it is bent in its curved shape using a string. Accordingly, I brought up the idea of having the bamboo go through the slits of the fabric and bend it using barn strings. Consequently, ease of assembly, disassembly, and disposal all promote RiFSK 2020 as a product that requires little effort or knowledge to use. An academic paper on the design methodology can be found below.

Detailed Journal of the Proposed Designs and Their Fabrication

Click here to access the document.