Phil Crock ’23 Helps Develop Award-Winning Medical Training Technology

Phil and his teammates launched Learn2Inject to develop the first reusable safety needle designed specifically for nursing education, called Smart Stick. The technology allows nursing students to repeatedly practice the complete injection process using the same training needle, reducing costs and plastic waste, while enhancing clinical skill development.

Unlike traditional disposable safety needles that permanently lock after a single use, the Smart Stick features a resettable locking mechanism that enables students to safely practice the full injection sequence more than 100 times with a single device. By addressing a longstanding challenge in nursing education, the team's innovation is projected to reduce training costs by an estimated 96% and plastic waste by 99%. They estimate the technology could benefit more than 700,000 nursing students enrolled in approximately 3,500 nursing programs across the United States.

Great work, Phil!