![Team Flo-BOT-emist pose with their $1,000 prize at EnMed Aggies Invent 2019.](_news-images/ETID-news-feature-enmed-aggies-invent-10July2019.jpg)
![Jay Thiagarajan poses with his team's $1,000 prize at EnMed Aggies Invent 2019.](_news-images/ETID-news-thiagarajan-10July2019.jpg)
EnMed is an integrated educational and research medical program with a focus on invention, innovation and entrepreneurship. In the EdMed Aggies Invent Competition, 13 student teams competed to create solutions for problems facing the medical field.
The challenge was to build an apparatus to enhance the efficiency of drawing blood into different vials in a sterile and safe manner. Thiagarajan and his team built a prototype using day-to-day materials as well as 3D printing. With their device, phlebotomists can hold the needle steady with one hand and manage the vials with the other hand. This drastically reduces the chances of the needle moving, which causes pain and injury to the patient. The projects were judged by doctors from the Texas A&M College of Medicine and the Houston Medical Center. The team now plans to improve their prototype and then apply for a patent.