Young look to Chinese way of life for product designs

The stampede in Shanghai on last New Year's Eve killed 36 people and injured nearly 50, but the tragedy gave Zheng Difei the idea to design a stack-up stretcher.

Zheng, a 22-year-old product designer, was at the Bund in Shanghai a day before the stampede, wondering to herself about the risks posed by such large gatherings of people.

After the incident, the graduate student of the Shanghai-based Donghua University says she felt that if rescue and transportation of the injured had been stepped up, more lives could have been saved. Her solution was the stack-up stretcher that also doubles as a respirator. Oxygen is stored in the stretcher's cushion and flashlights are fitted on its handle.