UT sophomore is developing WarmWave, a wearable heat device for menstrual pain
A University of Tennessee, Knoxville sophomore is developing a wearable heating device to ease menstrual cramps, a pain she knows firsthand.
At just 19 years old, Kendra Mueller is innovating to alleviate a pain that women have quietly endured for centuries. According to the National Institutes of Health, globally, 71.3% of women and girls of reproductive age experience menstrual cramps.
While the severity of cramps differs from woman to woman, the desire for on-the-go relief is widespread.
“The real cost is paid by women, including myself, having to miss work, class, and moments that matter because menstrual pain relief was never designed to move with us,” Mueller said. “Women deserve better options, and this is what inspired my company, WarmWave.”
WarmWave aims to produce a discreetly designed device that is portable and reusable for menstrual cramps. Mueller said her vision for the product is for it to stick to the stomach, run on charge, and allow users to regulate temperature and duration through an app.
Current options for menstrual relief include drugstore medications, plug-in heating pads, and disposable heat patches. But, Mueller explained, few of these products are designed to go where women go.
“If you were to walk into Target today and go to the menstrual care aisle, these disposable heating patches are essentially the only option up for purchase that can walk with you,” she said, explaining that while they do provide relief, the product is single-use and has a set duration of effectiveness.
Building her business from a Tennessee base
Mueller is from Madison, Wisconsin, and originally came up with the idea during her Freshman year as a student at the University of Minnesota. During that time, she tested the idea for WarmWave in an on-campus pitch competition.
However, going into her Sophomore year, Mueller made the decision to transfer to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), partly because of its hands-on entrepreneurship resources.
“Coming down here … it was such the right decision,” she said.
Mueller wasted no time getting involved with the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Haslam College of Business, where she now serves as a student ambassador for the organization.
The community response to WarmWave
In the fall, Mueller participated in her first pitch competition at UTK and placed first! She had 90 seconds to impress the judges at Vol Court, the Anderson Center’s semiannual pitch competition and speaker series. From those winnings, she took home $1,500 in grant funding.
Then, in September, Mueller pitched WarmWave at the 865 Fest Emerging Entrepreneur Competition, which is Knoxville’s premier entrepreneurship conference. She pitched to a room of more than 200 people.
The response from women in those rooms has kept her motivated to continue iterating the product and idea.
“There are so many women who come up to me afterwards asking, ‘Where’s the product?’ They want to order it,” Mueller said. “It’s so validating to know I’m doing something right, and I’m heading in the right direction.”
Next steps for the menstrual relief product
Mueller explained that WarmWave is still in its early stages. The next step for her, as a founder, is to identify an engineering partner to begin working on a prototype as a proof of concept. Then, Mueller said she will move into user testing.
For now, her vision for the wearable is to be as discreet as possible, meaning she hopes to be able to eventually offer the product in multiple skin tones. Her initial target market is college students and young working women, but envisions a day when the product becomes appealing to all people with ailments.
“My goal in the future is to have it be beyond menstrual pain and just be a product that you can wear on your knee, on your back, on any part of your body,” Mueller said.
Her next immediate step is finding the right partner to get started.
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