IDDS & the CSU EECL

Mid-July, Ben, Jic, Alyssa, and I spent 4 days at Colorado State University (CSU) for the International Development Design Summit (IDDS).  We actually spent most of our time at CSU's Engines & Energy Conversion Lab (EECL), which has an incredible stove testing facility.  The EECL very graciously let us use their space and resources, and they kindly took the time to show us some of the great work they've been doing (Envirofit was founded out of the EECL).


We spent time working on our prototype, demoing it, getting feedback, learning about existing stoves,  learning about design for the developing world (and some of the business that goes with it), learning about testing procedures, and actually testing our stove.  

Above: Dan explaining the testing equipment

Above: Bryan Wilson, co-director of the lab, listening as we explain our stove

Above: Demoing the stove outside for IDDS and EECL people

Above: Us testing the stove with Melanie in the lab

Above: Experimental pine needle burns, playing with primary and secondary air

The trip to CSU was extremely educational for our team--it made us realize just how much work we have ahead of us!  We took huge strides last semester and made a commendable proof of concept stove; however, there is still a lot we need to learn about the behavior of pine needles and the design of an appropriate stove.  As we attack the design this fall, we hope to give it the technical due diligence that it deserves!

$6K in Funding from MIT

Exciting news--last week we received $6000 in funding from MIT!

The funding originated from the Helen & William Mazer Foundation.  Special thanks to Amy Smith and Professor Gareth McKinley for helping to arrange this!  This means that our team will have the means to continue our prototyping and experimental efforts.

Yaaay!  The pyromania continues!

(We promise we won't use the money to do this)

International Development Design Summit 2010 (IDDS)

This July, Alyssa, Jic, Ben and I will travel to Colorado for IDDS.  

You may be wondering, what is IDDS?  

IDDS is a month-long summit focused on creating technologies and enterprises that improve the lives of people living in poverty.  It was founded by our MIT D-Lab instructor, Amy Smith, and it draws people from all around the world.

Ben will be there for most of the summit, since he is an organizer.  Alyssa, Jic, and I will join him July 16-19.

So, why are we going to IDDS? 

This is a great opportunity for us to demo our stove to the international development community.  Our team will get a chance to network, receive constructive feedback on our design, get advice on dissemination, etc.  There will be be people there who are knowledgeable about low cost stove technology.  Furthermore, Rajnish, our community partner with Avani NGO in India, will be at IDDS!  It will be great for Rajnish to see the stove live in action.  And if those aren't enough reasons to justify our trip, Colorado State University (which is hosting IDDS) also happens to have state-of-the-art stove testing facilities; we plan on running some tests on our stove while we're out there.

Our team is currently busy getting our stove ready, both for this IDDS trip as well as the Avani trip.  Wish us luck!

Taking it to the Field: Avani

One of our teammates, Danielle, and a fellow MIT student, Adam, will spend 3 weeks visiting Avani, our community partner, this July.  Danielle will work with the community to build the spiral stove and get feedback on the design; Adam will study the environmental impact of harvesting pine needles.

We hope Danielle and Adam have a safe trip, and we can't wait to get feedback from the families in Avani!  Working through the design with them will be invaluable; we need their input in order to properly meet their needs.  

We'll report more about this when it happens!  Until then, much pyro love.