Two Industrial Design students are looking to help families affected by natural disasters as well as recovery personnel with their “Disaster Casket.”

Master’s students Riley Keen and Kara Kenna submitted their design to the online Industrial Design magazine, Core77.com, and it was chosen to be featured in early February.

“Our casket provides an affordable, sustainable, and dignified solution for victims of natural disasters,” they wrote in their submission.

The plywood and cardboard structure is “An Affordable Flat-Pack Burial Solution for Deaths Caused by Natural Disaster." It allows disaster relief personnel to recover victims with safety and sanitation in mind.

“The large flat backboard can be used to retrieve bodies and as a work surface for autopsies,” the students wrote. Once medical professionals are finished, the backboard is closed inside the two other portions and is ready for burial, they wrote.

The casket idea resulted from a disaster relief studio design project. When the project was  presented in class, Riley said it got the attention of a representative of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes who attended the presentation.

According to Riley, the product is ready for production and the association is helping them pass their idea around to potential partners. If they don't have any luck there, they are looking at other national organizations, he said.

Core77 states on its website that it serves a global audience of industrial designers ranging from students through seasoned professionals. The editors choose the best reader-submitted design projects to share.

Read the article.