London (CNN) — 4 US engineering scholars have been brainstorming the easiest invention for his or her product design path, when lunch inspiration — actually — fell into their laps.
“Erin used to be consuming a burrito and the tortilla opened everywhere her,” probably the most 4, Tyler Guarino tells CNN. “It hit her then — it is a drawback that we will be able to clear up.”
Guarino, Erin Walsh, Marie Eric and Rachel Nie have been seniors at Johns Hopkins College in Baltimore after they launched into their venture to create an safe to eat tape that would hang wraps and burritos in combination final yr.
Lately, they’re proud in their prototype product, dubbed “Tastee Tape.”
Guarino stated the crew spent months learning “commonplace tape” and the weather it is composed of — a spine that holds its construction in combination and an adhesive that makes it keep on with surfaces — to take a look at to seek out their “safe to eat opposite numbers.”
They’d 3 primary standards for his or her tape: It had to be transparent and colorless, haven’t any style and no noticeable texture. After checking out quite a lot of mixtures, they hit at the magic recipe, which may be gluten loose and appropriate for vegans.
Tastee Tape is clear and colorless.
Tyler Guarino
“We examined about 50 other formulations” prior to discovering the profitable “Tastee Tape” recipe, Guarino says.
The precise components are a intently guarded secret because of a pending patent software, however the crew says the entirety used is “safe to eat, meals secure, GRAS [generally recognized as safe], and are not unusual meals components or components.”
There are 3 easy steps to the usage of Tastee Tape, Guarino explains. The primary is peeling a strip from its waxed paper sheet. Subsequent, is wetting it to turn on the tape, prior to after all, making use of it for your tightly wrapped tortilla with drive.
The crew’s present prototype is composed of tape strips on wax paper, however additionally they hope to package deal it on a roll like peculiar place of job tape.
On Monday, the crew graduated from faculty with Guarino expressing how Tastee Tape’s adventure so far has been “in reality thrilling.”
“We now have realized such a lot about product design, prototyping, and patenting. We’re all in reality thankful that we had this chance prior to we graduated because it has taught us such a lot of precious talents,” he stated, including that he and teammate Marie Eric can be staying on every other yr at JHU to finish a Masters’, and in that point, will proceed running at the product.
Best symbol: Tastee Tape dyed blue for visibility. The real tape is colorless. Credit score: Tyler Guarino
