Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards WINNER: Tomas Garcia’s [Tech]tonic Toolkit

Each year, Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards celebrate the most groundbreaking, problem-solving, and creative projects and ideas in business and design.

We are thrilled to share that MDes2023 graduate Tomas Garcia received a 2024 Innovation by Design Award in the student category for his outstanding thesis project, “[Tech]tonic Toolkit.”

This device is an innovative earthquake communication kit that teaches children how to stay connected when natural disasters take telecommunications networks online. In a disaster scenario, students receive critical emergency alerts directly from their school district’s notification system, providing an alternative to SMS and email when traditional telecommunication networks are down. Preconfigured with the community-based, open-source Meshtastic platform, the toolkit allows 4th-grade students in earthquake-prone areas to assemble their own unit in 20 guided steps. Aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) earth science standards, students will learn the basics of radio technology and understand how their device links to the school’s emergency system.

Deploying Long Range (LoRa) radio networks offers an affordable, resilient communication lifeline for vulnerable populations after major earthquakes. Introducing these tools in primary school curriculum helps municipal institutions support diverse communities in times of crisis.

[Tech]tonic Toolkit also took home the MDes2023 Graduate Exhibition Technological Innovation Award!

Check out the complete thesis and the Fast Company editorial to learn more about this project and other outstanding Berkeley MDes student work.