Empower Design

Review of Lego Energy Workshop

2011-04-28T03:36:00.000-07:00

As we talked about in a previous post, Empower Design held a Lego energy camp during the Ann Arbor public schools' spring break. Being the first time our group had hosted the camp, it was a success. Not only did we raise a lot of money to send to the technical institute in Uganda, but we also garnered enough additional interest to start planning additional camps over the summer. Here are a few pictures from the camp.

The Workshop: Technology Transfer Table

2011-04-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

The technology transfer table is the most important part of the workshop, as it is crucial to ensuring that the local people can take control of the project once we leave. What makes this portion so important is because all of the work done in this section is completely hands-on. Basically, the technicians in the workshop are given simple materials and asked to build a model of one of the devices we are building in the area, such as a windmill. Once their model is built, they must translate the materials they used in the shop to what materials they would use to build the actual machine and the cost of the materials. Their work is then critiqued by professional, high-quality technicians. This not only ensures that the local technicians understand how the devices are built and work, but also that they are learning how to design the most cost efficient model. It is our goal that once this portion of the workshop is complete, the technicians will be able to become successful in carrying out the project and independent of our group. At the end of the course, those who complete it will be given a certificate showing they are certified to make and sell the devices covered in the workshop.

The Workshop: Business Curriculum

2011-03-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

The goal of our group is that once we leave the area, the local people will be able to successfully sustain development of the devices they have learned to make. That is why in this portion of the workshop, we help raise the awareness of different marketing methods. We challenge the local people to question to who, what, and how they would market the technologies. For example, the technicians may be able to go to a neighboring village and demonstrate how a bicycle generator is more efficient than a diesel generator because multiple people in the village can use this device. Hopefully this would lead to the village seeking an outside donation or money from a relative, and the money earned from this would go toward building more devices. While this section of the workshop might be more difficult for those without a business background, we try to give them the most hands-on education possible by forcing them to come up with marketing ideas and then critiquing them. This way, they learn from their own good and bad ideas in the boardroom, and it is our hope that this translates to success in the real world.

The Workshop: Physics Curriculum

2011-03-23T18:50:00.001-07:00

The physics portion of the curriculum focuses primarily with how the devices are built and run. It covers what materials are needed, how the fundamental parts of each device are built, and the physics behind the design and how each part actually works. This is probably the easiest section for people in the workshop, for most of them are trained technicians and easily grasp these ideas.

The following table illustrates our overall six tier curriculum on the physics of energy conversions. Each tier builds upon the next tier as well as introduces new physics concepts to better understand the fundamentals of energy.

Before beginning any of these devices (besides the bicycle or hand-crank generator), we make sure to build a model out of wood or plastic first. We have a model built for every design developed in Africa. After intense critique of the design and robust debate over which local materials should be used and how the device should be built (which may last several days), only then do we purchase the equipment and go to the garage to build. After building and testing each device, we then completely transfer to the Business of Energy curriculum to pilot each device. Here are some pages from the current draft of the physics curriculum, as written by Abigail Mechtenberg who has her doctorate in Applied Physics from the University of Michigan.

The Workshop: Introduction

2011-03-22T19:28:00.001-07:00

As we have stated before, what distinguishes our group from others is that we believe in empowering the local people to have complete control over devices that are implemented in their area. This means not only teaching them how to design different technologies, but also the physics behind it (so that they may maintain, repair, and improve upon the devices) and the business aspect of it (marketing the devices, raising money to obtain money to build more devices). This is achieved through a weeklong workshop that we hold for technicians at the local technical institute, and that will be the topic of our blog this week.

For further information and pictures of our actual curriculum, you can visit http://sites.google.com/site/physicsofenergy/.

Lego Energy Workshop

2011-03-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

This spring break, Empower Design will be holding a Lego energy camp fundraiser in order to raise money to travel to Africa. The camp is to be held for kids attending Ann Arbor middle and high schools.

The camp is primarily headed by Abigail Mechtenberg, faculty advisor for Empower Design and Research Fellow at the University of Michigan. In this weeklong camp, kids learn all about different renewable energy technologies and the energy transfer systems associated with them. Here is an example of a Lego guide to building a hydroelectric generator.

Just as these kids are building small scale Lego models of different devices, in Africa our curriculum involves a technology transfer table. This basically allows technicians to liken the small scale parts to actual building materials. The technology transfer table is the last and most essential part of our curriculum in Africa.

Hydroelectric - Beginning Microgrids

2011-02-13T09:55:00.000-08:00

This video shows two technicians, Patrick and Gerald, testing the first
hydroelectric generator. It worked, but immediately the technicians
destroyed it and started to build a bigger version. Now that they went from
having the bicycle generator powering a light bulb and then a colored tv...
they want their hydroelectric generator run a tv! While they are doing
this, you can see in the background the vertical wind turbine (a discussion
left for another blog coming soon).

A lot of times when groups bring devices to developing nations, they simply
mass implement their machinery throughout the area. This is because they
have the mindset that if a device works from an engineering aspect, then it
will have success in the field. Our research, however, disputes this
approach, for it ignores the area’s social constraints and the ability of
local technicians. Once again, the philosophy of designing with Africans
versus designing for Africans comes up. When you design with Africans, you
design technologies that are needed in the area and utilize local resources
and geography, something that doesn’t happen when you design for
Africans. An example of this is the hydroelectric generator and something
Professor Debey will be immediately implementing in Liberia after they
successfully go through the bicycle generator knowledge.

Therefore, we believe in creating micro-grids where we first test each
individual device success in a small area and then all the devices together
in the same area. While this may take longer and is less efficient, it
ensures that all of the local constraints are satisfied and increases the
probability of our endeavors having success - it is therefore more
effective. Once our micro-grid shows that our devices will work, then we
plan on expanding them throughout the entire area. Since few will believe
this, we will start talking next week about our curriculum including
building a small scale microgrid.

Industrial Designer about "Design for the Other 90% Paradigm"

2011-02-08T05:56:00.000-08:00

Like many design students in the U.S. I fell in love with the idea of using design to help developing countries. This career path seemed to align with my two chief interests: designing stuff and helping others. I soon found a small project I could sink my teeth into, and with the support of my professors I began working tirelessly, with the passion and vivaciousness that comes from working with a purpose.

The goal was to design a low tech dirt mixer for use with Dr Moses Musaazi's (our colleague at Technology for Tomorrow) interlocking soil-stabilized block (ISSB) press. This ISSB machine is a simple, lever-operated tool which compresses a mixture of soil and concrete into an interlocking brick shape. As I used the machine on a mission trip I found most of my energy went into mixing the elements of soil and concrete(which was done by hand with shovels), whereas the compressing phase was quite easy. Hence my training in design dictated this mixing process needed improving upon. The first design that I sent over was a goliath of a machine, which was designed to never break and mix a very large quantity of soil as fast as possible, via hand cranks and gears. This mixer was doomed from the beginning. It was a product of the wrong approach to aid: ambitious people going to a foreign country and trying to crank out a "life-changing difference" as fast as possible. Needless to say, this project failed. The people who received it didn't understand how to use it, they had no respect for it as it was simply dropped upon their feet so it fell into the disrepair that I so desperately wanted to avoid. Despite the simple design, fixing the device was understandably more trouble than it was worth. Utter failure. Ouch.

On my second trip to Uganda, I had the privilege of working within Dr. Musaazi's company, Technology for Tomorrow Ltd, as an intern. No making the same mistakes twice, I told myself. This time, the mixer would be designed from local materials alongside local craftsman to ensure we created a machine that was easier to use, easier to fix and cheaper to make. The resulting design was an eclectic hodgepodge of parts found in nearby markets: car parts, an oil drum, scrap steel, among numerous other repurposed components. Despite being far more affordable and user friendly, this project also became an unused piece of the landscape as well and it certainly wasn't built for aesthetics! Though it addressed numerous failures of its predecessor, it fell to scrap for the same fundamental reason. It was not driven and invested-in by Ugandans so after the foreigner's work was done, it stagnated. Finally I truly understood that I was my own worst enemy.

My passion for design and for improving lives blinded me from the true situation. I saw problems that I wanted to fix, and I wanted to see that fix as soon as possible. What I missed was that Ugandans don't just need designs, they need to start designing. Abigail Mechtenberg once spoke of design as bread; design has the ability to tangibly improve peoples lives, but to dedicate a career to designing for the other 90% is just as unsustainable as spending a lifetime donating food. Certainly there are times when relief work is absolutely needed, in times of emergency and crisis. But spending a lifetime donating food to people that have the ability to farm, is no worse than designing for people that have the ability to design. Should foreigners design to fix problems or should we instead empower design?

- Blog Written by Daniel Morgan, an amazingly talented industrial designer whose humility in this blog is to a level which at times is not completely accurate. He co-designed many devices in Uganda and left a legacy and friendships in Uganda which will continue throughout his lifetime. As he goes back to school, he has dreams of co-founding a Design School at Makerere University. He shared what few ever learn... globally, we need to move beyond aid or the perfect imported technology/idea and into Ugandan research and development (R&D). An imperfect device with the backing of Ugandans is MUCH better than a supposedly perfect device with no backing. Note: a device will be backed-up by Ugandans IF it is affordable and most importantly repairable!

Designing With Africans

2011-02-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

Chelsea Ransom is a dual-degree master’s student at the University of Michigan, and part of our Empower Design team. She has had previous experience in Africa, as she helped bring clean water to a small Malian village as a member of the Peace Corps. She recently applied to and received the prestigious William Davidson Institute Student-Initiated Summer Internship Grant for an internship in Uganda under Dr. Moses Musaazi, a colleague of Dr. Mechtenberg. Bellow is an excerpt from her application, which details our research team’s philosophy of designing with Africans as opposed to for them:

“Many well-meaning organizations and companies are unsuccessful in Africa when it comes to the sustainability of their projects. Often this is due to the processes used in development of their technologies or concepts. I personally experienced frustration living in Africa over and over again, especially in the technological realm, with new, unsustainable medical, energy, or water devices. Sometimes these “sustainable” devices are purely western in nature, such as photovoltaic solar panels, which were designed for the western world and imported into Africa. Other devices like the solar oven I owned in Africa are designed by westerners for Africans. Frequently, these devices are too complicated to repair, impossible to manufacture locally, too expensive for the majority, or simply impractical. Unfortunately these projects are the ones gaining recognition (Rosenthal 2010), while locally designed, more sustainable projects are not. Many of these organizations are failing to grasp the underlying elements of success. In my experience, the difference between unsuccessful and successful projects lies in the difference between designing for Africans and designing with Africans. Organizations often design and implement projects but never return to evaluate its sustainability. If they did return, they would likely be disappointed to find their expensive gifts broken and in disrepair. Furthermore, there are many technologies being designed by Africans to meet their own needs, and these technologies are often not brought to market as discussed [in recent articles].”

Locally Fabricated/Manufactured versus Imported Devices

2011-02-01T06:39:00.000-08:00

The idea is that over dependence on imported products cripple local capacity to think, innovate, and generate new ideas as well as implement them in a sustainable manner. In fact any form of aid to developing countries would be more meaningful it were in the form of capacity building, for example through guidance on how to locally design and build devices whose breakdowns can be locally fixed by the local people as well as emphasizing the need for locally manufactured devices rather than imported devices at exorbitant costs coupled with limited capacity to locally maintain and repair them in the inevitable event of breakdown. There are examples here in Uganda where devices or components are donated or based on microcredits/microloans but become non-functional because locals cannot repair neither can they maintain them (sometimes the solar panels fail before the microloan is due). It is believed and quoted that many biogas digesters have been constructed in Uganda to provide energy, but it is hard to find them and harder to find functional ones. This also applies to other technologies such as solar which is expensive and there is no human capacity to repair them. Furthermore, if the United States is not purchasing solar panels for their residential homes without large tax credits, why are they highly promoted for the extremely poor (less than $1/day)?

It can also be argued that unless developing countries emphasize the concept of locally made devices; technological growth will remain a dream forever. I have gotten involved in the design and fabrication of devices locally here in Uganda and my observation while interacting with stakeholders is the negative tendency among Ugandans: most of them do not believe that reliable devices can be manufactured locally; they do not believe that Ugandans can come up with innovative ideas. Such negative tendencies are unfounded because there are role models such as Dr. Moses Musaazi (www.t4tafrica.com) that have come up with brilliant and innovative ideas contributing greatly to the betterment of human life.

The world today is in high gear for technological advances which have transformed it into a global village. It is self evident that technological devices/equipment are a key component in any technological growth since they act as the infrastructure and hardware that drives the software to achieve various applications such as tele-medicine. While that is true, it is instructive to note that many countries and regions that have experienced a technological boom such as China locally manufacture/fabricate their devices and equipment. However, when it comes to developing countries such as Uganda, it is easy to observe that most of the devices are not locally made. This is still a very big challenge and its logical to claim that such situation explains why developing countries are developing countries.

It is why we are teaming up with Empower Design because we know we must Empower Ugandans to Power Uganda as Dr. Abigail Mechtenberg’s workshops are titled.

Written by: Emmanuel Miyingo, Makerere University, Technology for Tomorrow.

Locally Built vs. Imported Devices

2011-01-29T13:32:00.000-08:00

As we have stated before, the goal of our research is to develop technologies with developing African nations while keeping in mind the social constraints of the area. There is a tradeoff with choosing locally designed devices over imported devices, but we believe it will be worth it in the long run. With imported devices you get maximum efficiency, a top of the line machine that is assured success. However, there are two flaws with this choice. One is that, often, such devices need a lot of funding to implement and therefore are not widespread enough to succeed. However, when these devices are spread throughout an area, they lose their value as soon as they break because the locals don’t have immediate access to the materials needed to fix such high-tech devices. Also, this technology is much more expensive to develop and put into practice. It costs much more to make a wind turbine blade out of steel rather than to weave it.

The problem with locally designed devices is that they take more time to implement and they are less efficient. However, they are able to be repaired because they were built using resources within the area. They also help unemployment, which is as high as 80% in some areas. The biggest reason to try integrating locally designed devices is simply that using imported devices has not worked for decades, and it’s time we learn from our mistakes.

Commenting on Wall Street Journal Article

2011-01-25T17:36:00.000-08:00

Does Helping the Planet Hurt the Poor?

Empower Design's comments...

(1) "Sometimes we should choose to protect the environment and the nonhuman animals that depend on it, even if that denies economic opportunities to some people living in extreme poverty."

My opinion: Economic opportunities are how we define it. What is our willingnesstopay. The problem with the economic opportunities argument is that we define it in terms of what they are willing to sell instead of our willingnesstopay. They live in a barter system which is historically sustainable, but has decreased life span (the only real limit to their cultural life style that I can measure). If we moved from a monetary system to a barter system, economic systems would potentially be tribal/community-focused instead of individualistic. In Uganda, people are choosing two methodologies for the bicycle electric generator: a public good model of sharing electricity for the bicycle electric generator deep in the bush where people barter and as a private good which you purchase in a construction management type contract in the more urban areas.

(2) "Even when economists ignore environmental concerns, their usual method of assigning a value to human lives leads to the ethically embarrassing conclusion that the poor count for less because they earn less and cannot pay as much to reduce life-threatening risks."

This is a great point and one that I deal with in my in-review article with how much should a back-up hand-crank surgical lamp be worth in Uganda given their risks associated with unreliable electric grids. In the United States, the surgical lamp would be worth more and people selling it would get more money for their innovation, but in Uganda the surgical lamp would not be worth as much and people selling it will no get as much money as them selling to the Unites States. It is a hard ethical decision for us to make in terms of how big (lumens of light intensity and battery storage capacity) the back-up surgical lamp should cost.

(3) "I wish that Mr. Lomborg were right that $100 billion a year could provide the world's poor with clean drinking water, sanitation, food, health and education, but that figure is wildly optimistic."

I completely agree with Singer. Throwing money at anything is not the solution. Appropriate technology has failed for the last 30+ years even on the small scale. Making this a bigger scale issue will reinforce the dependence which must be broken.

(4) "Let me end by agreeing with Mr. Lomborg on the need for more investment in research and development for green energy."

This is the key issue: research and development. However, they are missing the forest by focusing on specific trees... the poor need research and development programs which invest in their future - not aid and not investment in our future (or worst what we want their future to be). Our future is different from their future locally. What makes sense in the US may or may not make sense in Uganda. Clean water is true, but how to get clean water should be different. We use chemicals (takes shorter amount of time - pay people less labor time), but there are natural processes which will cost different their because their labor costs are MUCH lower (takes longer time - pay people more labor time) - see Technology for Tomorrow's bio-sand filter (co-author on paper). Green electricity is true, but how we get electricity should be different. Their optimal system for deep in the bush is human power system because labor is cheap and demand for electricity is extremely high - however, they are using it as a public good. In the US,our electricity systems have demanded a private good with minimum policy (mainly to insure the utilities continue to get a profit and we have increased reliability). In the US, It would not make sense to have human powered electricity (except at gyms) because it would mean electricity would cost MUCH MORE than $1/kWh.

The problem I have is assuming that outsiders have more of the answer and should let us design for them. Instead of "Design with the Poor" we have created a national and international fad of "Design for the Other 90%". We call the poor - "the other" and we design it for them - why? Because we own the patents and we make a living off of them.

Sorry, this article touches on many key points and I ramble. I still think it has good points and needs to be out there for others to read. However, it needs to go deeper and not just from our point of view. For example, I have heard the saying many times: "You cannot kill a goat who has a slit throat"... if they view their society and culture as dead, then it is survival minute-to-minute. What we need is to quit talking about them as poor and having a slit throat.... they are brilliant... innovative... and we steal their ideas and patent them (design for the other 90% examples). We never publish with professors in developing countries because we are the smart ones - even though they collected all of our data and guided us in the research. My colleagues in Africa and I are working on an article for Foreign Policy that will look at 50 African lecturers/professors and the US/European researchers who ask for them to do the majority of the research and benefited from their guidance in all kinds of academic investigations and research questions, but they were NEVER on an academic publication.

Yes, GHG emmissions must be dealt with now. However, are they prisoners stuck in our game or are both of us prisoners and we must collaborate. I worry that they are prisoners stuck in our game and we define and set-up the rules and potentially only pit them against each other.

Using the Interactive Graph

2011-01-25T16:50:00.000-08:00

Just as we discussed in the last blog, the interactive graph is a useful
tool which visually demonstrates the development of over 100 countries in
different statistical categories from 1980 to 2006. In addition, you can
see the visual correlation between different categories.

For example, remember that by examining the behaviors of China, India,
Uganda, and the U.S., we determined that there is a positive relation
between the average base power consumed per household, given in Watts per
capita, and how ‘developed’ a nation is. If we want to see what
potential factors contribute to higher average base power consumption per
capita, we can easily do this using the graph. You place the main category
(in this case average base power consumption per capita) on the y-axis.
Then, on the x-axis, you cycle through the different variables you believe
has an impact on the main category. If the data set of a country over time
fits a positive regression model, then the variable is a potential
contributing factor to the main category.

In the case of average base power consumption per capita, using the method
above we can see that electricity generation, GDP, and HDI are all factors
which contribute to increased power consumption per household. Conversely,
other categories do not have such a strong linear or log-log relationship
when graphed. Take, for example, the total average base power consumed.
This is the approximate number of power plants at 200 MW needed to meet
this base power. If you compare it to a country’s population, the
regression model has a much weaker correlation compared to other
statistical categories. While correlation doesn’t necessarily imply
causation, from results such as this we can infer that it isn’t factors
like a country’s size, but rather factors like as electricity generation,
HDI and GDP that mainly dictate its power consumption.

It was from such data that our research team developed what we think is the
best way to combat poverty in so-called ‘developing’ nations such as
Uganda. If you have not read the December 2010 Science Policy Forum article
called Energy-Poverty-Climate Nexus, we highly recommend reading it. All of
our electricity generating devices are not only connected to poverty, but
also climate - we will talk more about the climate issue when we begin our
microgrid blogs. First, we will focus on poverty discussions.

Understanding Electricity in Uganda

2011-01-22T00:30:00.000-08:00

In order to comprehend the severity of the energy crisis in Uganda, you must compare its electricity consumption to other countries. This is where the interactive graph, which can be found in the previous post and on the website’s homepage, comes in use. First, what do you think about telling everyone in America that you can only have access to the electricity equivalent of one incandescent light bulb (60 Watts). This is still 2000% (or 20 times) more than what people in Uganda have access to: 3 Watts/Person.

Over the next two blogs, we will compare Uganda’s rank in major statistical categories with three of the largest nations in the world: India, China, and the U.S. The category which best reflects the development of a nation is the average power consumed per household, given in Watts per capita. Choosing the bar graph view on the graph, we see that in 1980 the average power consumed per capita for these nations is:

Uganda: 3

U.S.: 1050

India: 16

China: 30

At this point in time, only a handful of countries consume more electricity per household than the U.S., while India, China, and Uganda are in the bottom half of this category. Uganda, specifically, dwells at the bottom of this spectrum, consuming less than 3 Watts per household. By pressing the play button in the bottom left corner of the graph, you can see the progression of each country in the statistical category you choose from 1980 to 2006. In 2006, the average power consumed per capita for the four countries is:

Uganda: 5

U.S.: 1460

India: 55

China: 220

It is clearly visible that so-called ‘undeveloped’ countries such as India and China are, over time, increasing power consumption per household. This is significant as there is a correlation between electricity and development. China and India have grown to become modern-day superpowers, and it comes as no surprise that they have also been able to make strides when it comes to consumption of electricity. Uganda has not been able to emulate this growth, and it is from studying nations such as India, China, and the U.S. that we have agreed with the conjecture that increasing energy sustainability in Uganda will strongly increase its human development.

Introduction to Empower Design

2011-01-17T11:27:00.000-08:00

Our research team and development (R&D) has developed a user interactive graph in order to display the progress of so-called developing countries such as Uganda in comparison with so-called developed countries such as America in terms of sustainable development. This model compares the average based power consumed (kilowatts per capita) with the country’s ranking on the Human Development Index (HDI). In addition, you are able to select and graph only specific countries and add different comparisons to the graph such as average power consumed. Then you can push play and see how the countries have changed over the last 20+ years.

From our model, it is easily apparent that developing countries, particularly different African nations, are the lowest in terms of both average base power consumption per capita and on the human development index. With appropriate technology in Africa for over 40 years, it is appalling that these countries still occupy the bottom of this spectrum. This predicament is what inspired our research. We asked ourselves, “Why do newly developed appropriate technologies fail in developing countries?” Our solution was that too much attention was being paid to the engineering aspect of new machinery without taking into account local constraints that need to be placed upon such technology. For instance, if a wind turbine is built in Uganda with blades reinforced with carbon fiber tape and it breaks, the locals will not be able to repair it because they have no access nor the finances to acquire resources such as carbon fiber tape. Therefore, the machine goes to waste. The focus of our research is to develop technologies that will survive and thrive in African nations by taking into account social constraints.

Beginning our first year of blogs

2011-01-16T03:11:00.001-08:00

This week, we will begin blogging at least once a week and sometimes 3-5 times a week. We will have interesting perspectives in the mix of blogs, but the beginning blogs will start with our Empower Design teams of co-designers from Uganda and US. We hope you choose to follow us and join us in changing the paradigm of "Design for Africans" to a paradigm of "Design with Africans".

Science Diplomacy - AAAS news posting

2009-07-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

If you get a chance, read this piece of news from AAAS.

http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2009/0629london.shtml

I hope that they will embrace this type of science and business curriculum that we have co-created in Uganda. It is hard for researchers to do research when electricity is completely unreliable and very difficult for teachers to teach science when electricity is hardly available.

Engineers Without Borders Changing Paradigm?

2009-06-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

I received a note today from a colleague at a NSF conference in Hawii (must be nice). She wrote the following:

The man who founded EWB "spoke here yesterday & today, and his views sound a lot like yours - empowerment, education, use of local technicians/skills/materials and appropriate levels of technology. They've got a center that he started out in Colorado that gives degrees in this stuff - a multidisciplinary program."

I remember sending pictures of our work to someone at EWB after a talk at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) this winter. I am hoping that their web site will make a switch in language as well and maybe they will start collaborating with technical schools and co-create curriculum with them... especially in terms of their energy and water crises.

It would be wonderful to start seeing the language co-create and replace Design for the Other 90%! I know some engineers at University of Michigan (Blue Lab and M-Heal) who want credit for designs over empowering technicians as well as who want to be THE next inventor to make a big impact. Everyone I asked if they were working with local technicians said no. They just show/illustrate/install the devices to/for them.

Personally, the techicians I work with in Uganda are more innovative than I am. I have lots of original great ideas, but they are not always practical (more of a physicist still and not quite a full-fledged engineer). The technicians are innovative and brilliant and make the electricity producing devices actually work (all with parts which can be purchased in Uganda). It is taking a while for me to convince them that they can truly design and engineer devices themselves. When I took M-Heal's alpha prototye for the surgical lamp, they said they could easily design a better system (in terms of cheaper and local materials). They were amazed that engineers go through multiple design steps before they reach a final product. I hope that regardless of what happens... that they learn to have faith in themselves. They are brilliant... just as brilliant as engineers here!

I wonder if the Industrial Revolution discussions African leaders have had could be addressed with empowering local technicians to be innovative and entrepreneurial. A curriculum to empower innovation instead of a curriculum to fix imported devices. If this could be interconnected with business university curriculum, then that would impact many smaller scale communities (ones without university curriculum in engineering, but with a technical school, for example).

Empowering Entrepreneurs in th USA!

2009-06-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

There is no shortage of ideas to generate power (and do other useful work) - just search YouTube for pedal power for a huge selection. How many oh these ideas could be "translated" to design using locally available materials and shared with needy communities outside the United States? The suggestion I have below may help.

A simple "Technology Translation Table" could be assembled. The first column would list a material or technology available in the United States, and each row would describe an item, such as "Grade 8 Bolts" or "Low Voltage, high-current diode." The second and subsequent columns would each represent a country, or region within the country (Uganda Metro, Uganda Rural) and list the equivalent technology available in that region.

The table would be jointly developed by US Entrepreneurs and individuals who have actual on-site experience with materials and technologies in the listed locations.

Such a table would undoubtedly filter many ideas out that could not be translated to local materials. However, it might also encourage design revisions to better match designs to local resources, resuting in more practical designs being developed.

David
Posted while pedaling, powered by me!

Today, I upload and email people for edits...

2009-06-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

Now comes the beginning of what we hope will be a fruitful endeavor. First, we need to go through a set of edits. Hopefully, this will be a fairly quick process so that we can officially publish the site and work on having search engines rank the site high. If you are interested in joining this community blog, please email me at amechten@gmail.com and I will add you.

Thanks to everyone who has supported and encouraged this endeavor!

Uganda Implementation

2009-06-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

We have now co-designed and build six electrical generating devices:

(1) Bicycle generator
(2) Hand-crank generator
(3) Vertical wind turbine (but this one is in need to a well-matched generator which we are working on)
(4) Merry-go-round generator
(5) Micro hydroelectric generator
(6) Surgical lamp with two back-up electricity sources (when the grid goes off)

We need to add more pictures to the web site, but that will come in time. I am beginning to think that I should simply post this web site and edit it as we go. Previously I was trying to get everything up and running and well edited, but it is taking so long will all the other responsibilities in life.

Kenya Implementation

2009-06-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

Peter Muhoro returned from MPala last week. The staff, who normally do not have good and reliable access to charging their batteries, are thrilled with the bicycle generator. They are using a car alternator (whereas Ghana is using a motor cycle dynometer). One villager ran to get his 12 V battery and immediately charged it up in 30 minutes.

Initial measurements show that the bicycle generator (with car alternator and strong healthy biker) is generating 30 Amps of current for a 12 volt battery. This is 360 Watts of human power output! Potentially this is not sustainable because the power input must be greater than this amount and very demanding on the body. However, in Kenya they have marathon runners who have redefined what a champion athlete can sustain in terms of power output. Still care should be taken to not overtax the human body.

Now Peter is having people contact him about the merry-go-round generator. Peter wants to write grants for this, but we are both wondering where we should start. I want to focus on empowering all the technical schools and technicians and Peter wants to focus on market development and implementation. Hopefully together we can find someone or some organization to support this work. The technicians do not have money to build these devices unless they know they have a market, but we cannot create a market without having someone pilot the devices.

Ghana Implementation

2009-06-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

Robert Van Buskirk the head of LBNL's Village Project International (VPI) research called me many times this Spring. He took the bicycle generator idea to a technician in Bolgatanga, Ghana and was amazed that they can build it there as well. Furthermore, he said it would hybridize well with the solar panel (which was something we are working on as well). He said that his program was interested in generating a market for this locally designed electrical generating device and agreed to work with a local auto electric technician: Abdul Raman.

His agreement with Abdul is that Abdul determines what it would cost him to supply a bicycle generator system to someone, and he finds some customers, and then VPI 1/2 the price for the first few customers so that he can sell the initial systems at a discount.

Here's hoping that more organizations get behind this paradigm shift away from "Designing for the Other" and shifting towards "Empowering Design" with local materials and expertise!

Adding Contacts

2009-06-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Today I have added Prof. Makanda to the blog contacts. As I being to post this website, I hope we can add more contacts to create a community of co-designers. Together we can create a Physics and Business of Energy empowerment coalition to design for human development needs: health, education, and economics.

Wow... it worked!

2009-06-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

This is going to be an easy way to set up a blog on the EmpowerDesign.org web site. I am still not ready to publish the site, but I am getting closer. I have set up a couple of people to read it over before I publish it.

Trying this out

2009-06-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

Today I am beginning my first journey into the blogging world. I want to be able to embed this into my web site, but not sure if that is going to work out. If so, this will be great!