Product design student Rebecca Mark with her Socialeyes idea for teaching social skills to children with autism

Sussex students are coming to the rescue, solving life's problems with ingenious designs that will feature in a special show to open in Brighton this week. 

Final-year engineering students on the Product Design degree will be showing off their innovative ideas at their end-of-degree show, Re:view, from 9-12 June. 

Fellow students and staff will get a first glimpse of the product prototypes and displays at a show in the ACCA Creativity Zone in Pevensey III on 8 June (10am-4.30pm). 

From 9 June, the show transfers to the Brighton Media Centre in Middle Street. The students will also be displaying their work at the New Designers show in London in July. 

Design exhibits at the show, sponsored by Claire Potter Design, Brighton Media Centre, Grohe, Banham, Vivid Design & Print and SCDF, include: 

The Adapt Stretcher System, designed by Sam Foreman, was a response to recent man-made and natural disasters around the world. Designed for use where there are mass casualties, the stretcher dismantles so that large numbers can be easily stored and quickly assembled. Each stretcher features an LED system built in so that patients can be grouped according to priority and type of treatment needed. Sam will now begin work with Jankel, which provides technology and armoured vehicles for disaster zones. 

Interactive tools for autistic children: Rebecca Mark developed two products to reduce the stress and frustration of autistic children and to aid their social interaction: a customizable, scaled building that children can reconfigure to resemble rooms they actually use, with figures that they can use in role play so that they can plan how to react to unusual or unpredictable situations; and a wristband that communicates what a child is feeling when they have difficulty in communicating their emotions to carers or teachers. 

Thermo-therapeutic jewellery: Diane McSweeney provides pain relief for the fashion-conscious with a range of jewellery that employs heat to ease the aches and pains of conditions such as rheumatism and Raynaud's phenomenon, a circulatory problem triggered by temperature changes in fingers and toes. 

Tuck-in is a lunchbox redesign that aims to introduce the working lunch eater to a life beyond sandwiches. Designer Greg Whittaker says: "The aim is to reduce the stigma associated with packed lunches by turning the lunchbox into a fashion accessory." 

Child-friendly energy monitor - a design by Elle Tweedy - encourages and engages children in developing energy-saving habits around the house. 

All of the students spent a year on placement with design firms, and some have already secured jobs in the industry. 

Course tutor Mark Jenkins says: "What has also emerged this year is a more empathic and emotional application towards the projects.  This has been revealed with devices and products that will potentially assist and help people exposed to undesirable circumstances such as disasters, accidents or illnesses.  

"On the home front, there has been focused awareness and proposed resolutions applied towards the lifestyles that are typical of working people in the UK today.  Overall our students' projects get more sophisticated and relevant each year. With design influencing more areas of modern society than ever before, this can only be a good thing."

For more details about the student exhibits, visit the Product Design degree show website.