Faculty-led, student-powered research advances heat and health innovation

Third-year B.Arch student Brett Lewis earned first place in the poster competition at the 2026 Big Idea Challenge Research Showcase, while M.Arch student Nick Yang received fully funded National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps+) training. Their achievements reflect the growing impact of integrating faculty research into course content across CAPLA. 

Held May 8 at the Grand Challenges Research Building, the showcase highlighted advances in research, commercialization, new publications and community outreach, with a particular emphasis on graduate and undergraduate involvement. CAPLA faculty and student research focused on innovative responses to extreme heat and health resilience.  

Lewis won for his presentation on climate-responsive cooling unit design developed in collaboration with five other students within CAPLA’s Human Factors and Wellness class.   

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“It was such an honor and exciting surprise to hear my name called for the first-place award,” Lewis said. “It was a feeling of excitement, joy, and pride. I couldn't have been more honored to represent our research team and CAPLA in front of such an esteemed group of researchers and President Garimella.” 

Lewis credited the collaborative nature of the consortium and the leadership of CAPLA Lecturer Sandra Bernal for extending this opportunity to the class. 

“None of this would have been possible without the help of the dedicated faculty and students that make up the Heat and Health Resilience Innovation Consortium,” he said. “I would like to give a special thank you to Dr. Bernal, who encouraged me to participate and offered her guidance, help, and support during the semester to create such a strong presentation.” 

The Heat and Health Resilience Innovation Consortium (HHRIC), led by College of Medicine–Phoenix faculty Amelia Gallitano and Freya Spielberg and advised by faculty including Ladd Keith, director of the U of A Heat Resilience Initiative, brings together students, faculty, and researchers across disciplines to develop practical solutions that reduce heat-related illness, mortality, and healthcare costs among vulnerable populations.  

Within the consortium, Bernal serves as innovator and integration lead alongside Altaf Engineer, the innovation co-technical lead. 

 “After one year of work as part of the consortium, our work integrates personalized technologies, energy-independent cooling infrastructure, health system analytics, and education,” Bernal said. “Students from engineering, architecture, health sciences, biology, and entrepreneurship contribute to prototype development, research posters, and translational pathways. Multiple grants and commercialization efforts are underway.” 

Bernal and Engineer’s work in the consortium also includes contributions from first-year M.Arch and MS.Arch student Nick Yang, who is helping develop energy-efficient cooling technologies for desert communities. The project focuses on durable, low-energy systems designed for real-world community use, even in areas without reliable internet access. 

“The development of this framework extends beyond the classroom into commercialization and implementation pathways,” Yang said.  

Bernal and Yang will join a fully sponsored NSF I-Corps+ session and attend the BIO International Conference in San Diego this summer to pursue elevated customer discovery strategies to support their reach for institutional, state, national, private, and international funding opportunities aiming for $3.25 million of anticipated investment. 

Students Drive Interdisciplinary Heat and Health Innovation 

More than 70 students from CAPLA’s Sustainable Built Environments capstone courses, honors programs, masters in science of architecture, and second- and third-year architecture participated through curriculum-integrated coursework and independent studies. Students contributed research posters, technology proposals, and functional prototypes while gaining hands-on experience in translational research, community-engaged design, and entrepreneurship. 

CAPLA contributed five research posters to the showcase, covering topics such as climate-responsive cooling design, student heat exposure, community heat relief preferences, and smart kiosk technologies developed in collaboration with students and faculty across architecture, engineering, medicine, and health sciences. 

Planned funding initiatives include early-stage piloting of self-contained cooling kiosks equipped with local artificial intelligence for health monitoring and telemedicine connectivity, as well as large-scale development of solar-powered Cooling Health Oasis systems for deployment in urban and rural communities facing extreme heat. 

By integrating built environment solutions, personalized technologies, healthcare analytics, and interdisciplinary education, CAPLA’s work demonstrates how universities can translate climate research into scalable, life-saving interventions while preparing students to lead the future of climate-responsive design and health innovation. 

Thanks to ARC 202 studio instructors Siri Beidler (coordinator), Jack Rodat, Myles Peña, Sheehan Wachter, and Craig Nealy for the curriculum integration of heat and health design priorities.