Congratulations to phyllismugadza ’22, who is one of 20 students worldwide to win the Schmidt Futures Reimagine Challenge 2020 Global Competition. Her winning entry proposes creating an upcycling makerspaces for recycling in developing nations with high waste mismanagement. "Plastic waste is causing a growing public health emergency globally. New research indicates that between 400,000 and 1 million people die each year in developing countries because of diseases related to mismanaged waste," says Mugadza, who grew up in Zimbabwe and was inspired by the craftiness and ingenuity of those around her who would repurpose refuse into art, chandeliers and guitars. And this project isn’t her only entrepreneurial endeavor. Mugadza has also combined her engineering education from Yale College, where she is also a Senior as part of the five-year BS/MPH program, with her public health training to develop a reusable menstrual product. Her ideas, she said, all center around promoting dignity an...