University–Industry Collaboration in Frugal Innovation Through Prototyping: The Case of a Firefighter Cooling Vest

Abstract

The research presented here analyses the design and development of a firefighters cooling vest for rural Australian volunteer bush firefighting services. Bush firefighting is hazardous work due to extreme heat stress experienced by firefighters. Cooling vests therefore form a critical part in reducing the core body temperature of firefighters on duty. Given that volunteer fire fighting services have minimal funding for either the purchase of existing cooling vests or for R&D of new affordable cooling vests; resources for the project are particularly constrained. Reflective analysis of the case study against some of the key features of frugal innovation identifies that management of priority and constraint as well as prototyping during design development may be useful in achieving a good university-industry collaboration (UIC) for manufacturing small-medium enterprises (SMEs). An existing integrated parameter model is utilized to reflect the way priority and constraint is managed in conjunction with prototyping and has been adapted using frugal innovation objectives to conceptualize the case analysis. Analysis of the case, by referencing the literature on frugal innovation and ways of managing UIC projects for new product development, uncovers a complementary relationship between the two practices. The adapted version of the integrated parameter model presented can provide a reference guide for other UIC product design projects for SMEs operating within the constraints of frugal innovation, incorporating prototyping as the central method of research.