Issue date: 12/4/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Brent Shirley Senior Jon Camero, left, discusses his modular hospital model with Dr. Hadi Al Khalili, senior physician in the Embassy of Iraq, Monday. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Brent Shirley Dr. Hadi Al Khalili and his wife, Hanan, listen to Aggie senior Stacey Rossmeisl explain her team's architecture project Monday at the Brazos Center in Bryan. [Click to enlarge]

Natural disaster, population growth, terrorism, disease and man-made disasters all lead to a need for medical care and hospital space. At the Brazos Center in Bryan, Monday, eight two-student teams from a Texas A&M Architecture 350 class presented models for rapidly deployable modular hospitals.

The presentations were the culmination of an eight-week class project aimed at addressing the financing, fabrication, shipping, construction, staffing, operations and maintenance for modular hospitals.

Dr. Paul K. Carlton Jr., Lt. Gen. USAF (ret.) and director of the A&M Health Science Center, HSC, introduced the idea for the class program. Carlton said his vision was to get typical young, energetic Aggies to apply their ideas to fix problems.

"I'm 60 years old," Carlton said. "For 40 years, I've been told how to do things, and it doesn't change. These kids are so bright and innovative, they can help give new perspectives on solutions."

Senior Stacey Rossmeisl and junior Evan Edwards formed one of the teams. Rossmeisl, who is pursuing a career in architecture, said the project has given her a career focus: designing for healthcare. The two spent about 14 hours making their 3-D model with a laser cutter, but countless hours went into the research and planning stages.

Edwards said the best part of the project was the designing freedom. The two went through many ideas and worked together to make the final product.

The groups' specific focus was the Kern Valley Healthcare District Hospital in Lake Isabella, Calif. Every group created modular floor plans for the building along with overall findings about possibilities for modular hospitals in other countries. Students worked with HSC, the A&M College of Architecture and the Aspen Street Architects of Angels Camp, Calif. David Hitchcock represented the architecture firm, working with the students during the semester.

"We had midpoint evaluations," Rossmeisl said. "[Hitchcock] told us what he liked and what we needed to change. He buzzed us a lot - verbally made a buzzing sound and shook his head when we needed to make changes."

Hitchcock said he told the students what was working for them and received a great response.

"This really should have been a fifth-year project, not a third-year one," Hitchcock said. "The students caught on to one aspect of architecture very fast: listening to the client. They heard what I told them and worked to change things."

For the student project, Carlton and Hitchcock teamed up with George Mann, A&M architecture professor and Skaggs-Sprague endowment chair in health facilities design, and Joseph McGraw, A&M architecture professor and former director of planning at the Kuwait University Health Science Centre, who directed the every day research and design.

Special guest Dr. Hadi Al Khalili, a senior physician in the Embassy of Iraq, attended Monday's presentation, listening to the ideas and addressing the students, complementing them on their ingenuity. Khalili has been touring the United States in search of new health care ideas and methods that can improve the system in Iraq. He showed the students slides of architecture in Iraq and spoke about the need for improvement.

"The modular system is very practical and useful, especially in countries like Iraq," Khalili said. "I am very impressed with these students' creativity, and I hope their ideas have an impact."

Carlton said he is taking the presentations to the state department to pitch the ideas, which he described as fitting in to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' plans for "soft power," which Carlton said is building a solid infrastructure.

"I think the ideas we saw tonight will have an impact in Iraq and Afghanistan within six months," Carlton said.

Each student group gave a Power Point presentation of its specific findings. Angela Mellow and Sam Hall said that global healthcare solutions should not wait until disaster strikes, but should become a preventative measure. Elizabeth Miller and Rohan Shirodkar analyzed problems in India. Shirodkar said he is passionate about India because it is his home country, where in 1991, there were an estimated 10 hospital beds for every 10,000 citizens.

At the end of Melissa Guerrero and Holly Robinson's presentation, Robinson said the project was incredible because it will have a "real life impact, not just something our professors made up."

For others, like seniors Jon Camero and Michael Wilson, the project gave an opportunity for networking while working on an important issue. Christina French and Amy Kircher's presentation highlighted the phasing and assembly process of the modular hospitals. Gerardo Barrientos and Southern Ellis had a plan for hospital operation during the modular construction. Nicole Acosta and Ashlee Burleson talked about need for response to a variety of conditions, including hurricanes, tsunamis and war.

Mann said the students faced a difficult task because the project was really two sided, requiring specific design for a hospital in California and general solutions for oversea disaster problems.

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