The Aapricity Podcast Episode 3: Grace Hsia and Larrea Young of Warmilu - Non-Electric Warming Technology and Social Entrepreneurship

by Maggie Cease

Grace and Larrea in the Warmilu studio

Welcome to the third episode of the Aapricity Podcast! I'm super excited to bring you my interview with Grace Hsia, Co-Founder and CEO of Warmilu, and Larrea Young, Vice President of Warmilu.

Warmilu is a non-electric warming technology company. They've developed phase-change materials and use them to help reduce infant mortality in resource-scarce settings, as well as provide pain management warming solutions.

I want to let you know--this interview does run longer than previous interviews, even after being edited. So, I want to give you a little overview of what we cover so you'll know what to expect. In the first part, we go into what Warmilu does, the science behind how phase change materials work, what it was like to obtain patents for the innovative technology behind the phase change heat packs, some facets of Warmilu's product design and where these products are being used today, some of the other applications for their non-electric warming technology, and the touching story behind how Warmilu got its name.

In the second part, we discuss the production logistics behind Warmilu's products, how they've come to define social entrepreneurship and what sorts of challenges it can address, what Grace and Larrea thought they were going to be when they were growing up and how that relates to what they do now, the work the two of them do outside of Warmilu (yes, they both have other jobs outside of Warmilu!), what role being in Ann Arbor has played for Warmilu, and last but not least, how you can find out more about the great work these two are doing.

If you're interested in finding out even more about Warmilu, you can go to warmilu.org.

And if you haven't already done so, hit 'subscribe' on either the iTunes Store or Google Play Music so you can be updated on more awesome Aapricity Podcast episodes as they're released.

Check out a video of the warming pack here, as well as photos of the Incublanket and Grace and Larrea on their recent trip to Kenya:

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The Warmilu Incublanket and heat pack

Grace and Larrea visiting with staff of Pumwani Hospital in Kenya