Thursday, November 20
9:00 am - 11:00 am
Why Choose Hemp in Sanitary Pads? The Benefits for the Body and the Climate
Mewalii, founded by Frederikke Dahl and Simone Westergaard, started in 2019 with a goal of making it easy to be sustainable during menstruation. Single use sanitary pads are the most used products today during menstruation and they mainly consist of plastic and cotton which are harmful for the environment. Frederikke researched different materials for her final project at University of Southern Denmark and found hemp to be the most sustainable option. This was the start of 4,5 years development to make the hemp fibers white and soft enough for sanitary pads. Today we have developed the first sanitary pads in the world made of hemp without cotton and found that hemp is not only good for the environment but also for the body. Today we help people with different diseases such as fungus and lichen simplex chronicus.
» Frederikke Dahl
Founder, Mewalii ApS
BIOGRAPHY
Frederikke Dahl is the Founder of MEWALII, established in 2020, where she combines her background in integrated design and engineering with a passion for developing creative, human-centered solutions. With experience spanning product development, design engineering, and health tech innovation, she brings a multidisciplinary perspective to her work.Before founding MEWALII, Frederikke worked as a Design Engineer and intern at Odico A/S, focusing on advanced design processes and engineering solutions. She also served as a Course Instructor at the University of Southern Denmark’s Faculty of Engineering, supporting student learning in technical fields, and gained international experience as a volunteer research assistant with Wildlife Sense in Greece, where she led small teams in conservation efforts and learned to navigate cross-cultural collaboration.
Her innovative mindset was recognized in 2018 when she was awarded Health Tech Innovator at the University of Southern Denmark for her work on cross-disciplinary healthcare solutions developed in collaboration with engineers and nurses.
Frederikke holds a Bachelor’s degree in Integrated Design Engineering (Diplomingeniør, Integreret Design) from the University of Southern Denmark. She continues to pursue projects that unite design, engineering, and social impact to create meaningful change.
