Torch Tiles are a low-tech solution to regulating the temperature in tents.

There are numerous problems in the world that innovations in engineering can help to solve. Engineers often need to apply a human-centered approach to help solve these real-world problems. A unique University of Southern California (USC) course has found a way to give students this experience. The course, Innovation in Engineering Design for Global Challenges, requires students to use their engineering skills to solve real-world issues.

The focus of the course is the global refugee crisis. Nearly 71 million people have been forced from their homes and must live in refugee camps. This course looks specifically at the lives of refugees in Greece. Students work in teams over two semesters with $6,000 to try to improve the conditions of the refugees. The projects focus on improving sanitation, shelter, access to electricity, mental health, education, access to information, and security. 

David Gerber, one of the course instructors, says that the class “is about tangible, real-world impact.” He explains on the school website that “it’s a paradigm shift to get students to forget about the grade and think about the innovation and the impact. Don’t just tell me what you’re going to build—show me.”

The students have not let their instructors down. In the first year of the course, students designed several projects to help improve the lives of refugees. One team created a portable shower that uses recycled water. Another team improved refugee access to information by creating an aggregator that consolidates life-saving data from sometimes disjointed government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Ayeshna Dasai, a student at USC, had the opportunity to take this course before the pandemic took hold across the world. She described the experience as “one of the most life-changing experiences I ever had.” Her team created insulation for tents made of aluminate. The material was designed to help regulate the temperature in a tent by reflecting heat.

It would turn out that this project was the start of something much bigger. “When the pandemic hit, we realized that what we were working on for the refugee crisis was very, very applicable to the homelessness crisis in L.A., especially since they are in our backyard,” she explained. This was the start of Torch Global Inc.

Torch Tiles

During the course, students spend a week in Greece visiting two refugee camps in Lesvos, Greece—Moria and Kara Tepe. They are to use this time to immerse themselves in the challenges that refugees face daily. This experience is intended to inspire their project and guide their design.

One salient issue among refugees is the need to regulate the temperature in their tents. Tents offer little insulation, so during the winter they are very cold and during the summer they are extremely hot. There is also little that people can do to regulate the temperature of their tents. The students learned that 90.4 percent of the refugees did not have a heating device for their tents and none of those surveyed had a fan or cooling device. Yet, 80.6 percent of refugees reported that they felt very uncomfortable with their shelter based on the temperature.

The solution to this problem was Torch Tiles—a low-tech solution to regulate the temperature in tents. They are made of a high-grade material called Aluminet, which is a lightweight knitted shade cloth made of metalized high-density polyethylene. The metallic knit reflects radiant heat, which adds a layer of temperature control. Because Aluminet is knitted, the Torch Tiles control the temperature without decreasing ventilation or sacrificing the air quality inside the tent.

The tiles have a shade factor of 70 to 75 percent and are UV resistant for up to four years. During the summer, the tiles reflect the sun and provide shade, while during the winter, the tiles are designed to be placed under exterior tarps. In this configuration, the tiles reflect 60 percent of the radiant body heat in the tent, which can increase the temperature inside the tent by 5 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit on average.

The Torch Tiles are modular and can be attached together to cover a shelter of any size. Each tile is six feet by six feet. A typical tent uses four Torch Tiles. The units have grommets on the corners that allow them to be attached together with zip ties. The ties can also be used to anchor the tiles to the tent pegs.

Outreach in Los Angeles

The Torch tents were initially inspired by issues that face refugees in Greece. But, when the students returned to Los Angeles, they found that the tiles could also help people in their own community. The pandemic had increased unemployment and homelessness in Los Angeles. The students realized that their technology could improve the lives of people living in the city’s Skid Row and Veterans Row, where many homeless residents live in tents.

On the Torch Tile website, the students describe the impact their product has had. “When we were distributing Torch Tiles on Skid Row everyone was super excited about the product. Everyone was saying how hot and uncomfortable their shelters were and they were excited to be offered a solution which would help cool off their homes.”

The goal of the Pass the Torch effort is to reach $2,500 in donations. This would allow the students to provide over 500 people with Torch Tiles. Regulating the temperature of tents used by the homeless in Los Angeles could decrease the risk of dehydration, heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and COVID-19 in the homeless community.

Engineering That Makes an Impact

The course Innovation in Engineering Design for Global Challenges gave students grounded experience in the impact that engineering can make in the world. It is an empathy-driven course that also gives students valuable career skills. The course requires students to work with multiple stakeholders and collaborate in multidisciplinary environments.

During the course, students work in multidisciplinary teams. The course partners with students from a variety of academic backgrounds, drawing students from seven USC schools: USC Viterbi School of Engineering; USC Marshall School of Business; USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism; USC Iovine and Young Academy; USC School of Cinematic Arts; USC Keck School of Medicine; and USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences.

“It is multidisciplinary from a cultural standpoint, from a tactical standpoint, from a faculty standpoint, from an approach standpoint, and that, we believe, will lead to a greater chance of success,” said Gerber.

Impactful projects like this encourage students to use a systems-oriented, proactive approach. Engineering is often defined as “design under constraint,” but this project forced the students to consider diplomatic challenges that policymakers face, adding an additional level of nuanced constraint. Diplomacy became an integral engineering skill.

“This multidisciplinary collaboration is the reality of the world today,” said Brad Cracchiola, one of the course instructors. He believes that diplomacy can benefit from an engineering approach and explains that engineering is “a systems-thinking, a designs-thinking approach to solving problems, and … I think that engineering and diplomacy can work together more and learn from each other.”

Multidisciplinary academic and engineering teams have the potential to offer a great deal to diplomatic projects and activities. Academics have the required skills to conduct systematic research into the challenges populations face. Engineers are trained to discover the optimal solution for a problem while overcoming constraints. The next generation of engineers can benefit from firsthand experience in such successful collaborations.

This is a lesson that the students who designed Torch Tiles learned. They came away from the course with a new business and a life-altering experience. They translated their engineering skills into a product with life-saving potential. And Dasai was grateful for the opportunity. “Realizing that this is what people have to live with—constantly, outdoors, in those conditions, all the time—is absolutely not OK. And I’m very grateful that we are able to at least provide some sort of relief for those that are experiencing it,” she said.