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Lennon Rodgers Believes Universities Will Power the Future of Open Source Design

It may be surprising to some that the Director of the Grainger Engineering Design Innovation Labs began his college career as an art student. Associate teaching professor Lennon Rodgers, however, claims he often sees connections between what he used to do in art and what he now does as a mechanical engineer. He believes the two seemingly divergent worlds can collaborate- and collaboration, Rodgers says, is essential when designing open hardware. 

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Rodgers was generally unfamiliar with the vast world of open source. His work in the Grainger Engineering Design Innovation Labs was initially limited to helping students with their class or personal projects. But in mid-March of 2020, an unexpected request from a hospital inspired Rodgers to create a life saving device.

“We knew there would be a lot of unmet needs during the pandemic. But it really wasn’t until the hospital contacted us, around mid-March or early March of 2020, that we identified an exact need…face shields.”

The hospital informed Rodgers that they were facing a face covering shortage. The professor and his colleagues rushed to create prototypes that might solve the problem. From their efforts emerged the Badger Shield, a plastic face shield for hospital workers that could greatly reduce virus exposure. Healthcare workers from around the United States were worried about the shortage, encouraging the team to make the product cheap, open, and easily replicable. They designed the Badger Shield to be open source and made using easily accessible tools and materials.

The design was simple: “It was a plastic front, an elastic band, foam, and 2 staples. That was it.”

Beyond its cheap price point, the Badger Shield’s blueprints were made available online, free of charge. Rodgers realized that they needed more than just an Open Source design – they needed to create a supply chain. So they established a website to connect companies making the Badger Shield to companies that sold the required components like plastic and elastic. They also connected the hospitals in need with those companies making the Badger Shield. His team also collaborated with a Madison-based manufacturer to distribute the product to hospitals around the country. The Badger Shield, fueled by a steady supply chain, went viral; by the end of the pandemic, over 40 million Badger Shields were made around the world. 

“The Badger Shield’s popularity did not just come from its open source design- it came with the product’s accessible manufacturing. Our local manufacturing partner  [Midwest Prototyping] was the first to get the manufacturing engine going. We connected the people making the Badger Shield to people who wanted to buy it.”

The Badger Shield introduced Rodgers to the world of open source hardware. Since then, he’s been enamored with the design philosophy.

Currently, Rodgers is discovering the best methods for the manufacturing of open source products. Universities, he believes, may be the key. Based on what he experienced with the Badger Shield, he believes UW Madison can connect open hardware creators with interested manufacturers and customers. 

“There’s a lot of questions about the role of universities right now. Society could benefit from universities adding a focus of applied design – like we did with the Badger Shield”

 Rodgers’ current project is an open source AED-carrying drone. The project is far more complex than the Badger Shield. 

“Races, hiking, national park services…there are a lot of areas where it is difficult to deliver medical supplies. But a drone can fly at about 50 miles an hour. It can hover up at 150, 300 feet and deliver the medical equipment without landing. So we are working on a drone attachment that can deliver lifesaving medical supplies anywhere.”

The Badger Shield benefitted from both high demand and its simple design. Convincing manufacturers to sign on to more complex products, like the AED drone, may prove more difficult. But Rodgers believes that is another area where universities could offer their support. 

“The university has vast intellectual and facility resources. It could collaborate with industry and others to create open-source hardware and software designs that meet a broad, social need. I think the Badger Shield and our new drone project are great examples. Students, faculty and staff could foster the creation and dissemination of the design. Most importantly, they will likely also have to help establish a supply chain and connect with possible customers.   The university’s reputation could act as a validation of the design’s value.”

Rodgers has found that the open source aspect of his designs has also made experts more willing to collaborate.

“Open source brings experts to the table easier. They know that a university is not just trying to get their opinions to make money. And we did not find success on a product until that hospital approached us for the Badger Shield…that was a good lesson for open source. If you really identify a need, by working with users and experts, your product has a better chance of taking off. 

Collaboration between the users, the engineers, and the university are essential for creating a good product. But work on a product extends beyond even those. Manufacturers also help improve open source products.

“Manufacturers notice the small things. Even the product’s size- they gave us the comment that ‘if you make it a little bit smaller, we could fit it inside the standard box shape’. As a university, we don’t know things like that. But when we can work with industry, they can make smart adjustments like that.”

When universities identify the needs of and collaborate with other groups, innovations are sure to be made. Universities and collaboration go hand-in-hand, making open source the obvious choice for future university sponsored developments. Rodgers thinks that universities could deepen their impact by making playbooks for future innovators. 

“I was thinking, how might universities create a model? How might universities replicate the lessons learned? Guidelines could foster more open source designs. We should start with the open source projects that have impacted hundreds of thousands of people. When universities make models for those, more innovations are sure to follow.”