Using this information, I decided on using cork as the primary insulation material with an exterior water proof coating to provide better cooler performance. 

The final SolidWorks design features a cooler that has a sliding top and removable internal compartments for added organization and insulation.

MindSumo is a platform that connects companies with problems to colleges students who want to solve them. One anonymous company wanted to rethink the disposable cooler.

In order to properly design a cooler I looked at existing products and compared their insulation properties. Styrofoam is the leading material for disposable coolers and it is also one of the worst mass produced materials for the environment. Using CES EduPack provided by Northeastern University, I was able to collect material properties of styrofoam and a variety of other materials.

Using the same material database I was able to find biodegradable materials with similar insulation properties.

I put together the research, analysis, design, and proposal for this over the course of a couple days, and was recognized as a runner up in the MindSumo design challenge among 60 proposals. The links to the more detailed proposal and certificate are shown below.