Here is the blurb posted on the D-Lab site--it sums it up nicely.
SO exciting!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Science, Technology, & Innovation Forum!
On September 22nd, we have been invited to the Science, Technology, & Innovation Form, which is being held in New York City during the United Nations' General Assembly! The event is co-hosted by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). Basically, we'll get to showcase our stove at what can only be described as a really badass science fair!
Here is the blurb posted on the D-Lab site--it sums it up nicely.
SO exciting!
Here is the blurb posted on the D-Lab site--it sums it up nicely.
SO exciting!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
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.
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!
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.
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| Above: Dan explaining the testing equipment |
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| Above: Bryan Wilson, co-director of the lab, listening as we explain our stove |
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| Above: Demoing the stove outside for IDDS and EECL people |
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| Above: Us testing the stove with Melanie in the lab |
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| Above: Experimental pine needle burns, playing with primary and secondary air |
Friday, July 9, 2010
$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!
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)
Saturday, July 3, 2010
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.
We'll report more about this when it happens! Until then, much pyro love.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Frying an Egg
We've finally eaten food from the stove!
Yesterday, after the D-Lab Presentations, our team had a great celebration Jic's house. Besides barbecuing tons of food on his grill, we fired up the pine needle stove for several hours. Though we didn't cook our dinner on the stove (though maybe we should have...), we did decide it was time to try cooking on it, so we fried a few eggs. It was fantastic!
Yesterday, after the D-Lab Presentations, our team had a great celebration Jic's house. Besides barbecuing tons of food on his grill, we fired up the pine needle stove for several hours. Though we didn't cook our dinner on the stove (though maybe we should have...), we did decide it was time to try cooking on it, so we fried a few eggs. It was fantastic!
Tau Beta Pi Fellowship!
This week, we received a $3000 Tau Beta Pi fellowship to work on our stove this summer! This means that we will have the funds to take this into the field and get feedback from our community partners in India!
D-Lab Final Presentations
Yesterday afternoon was the MIT D-Lab Spring Showcase, hosted at the MIT Museum.
The event began with 1 minute presentations from all the D-Lab project teams this semester; afterwards, people milled around and visited team presentation booths.
Our stove was very well received--the audience was REALLY excited about our stove, and we had people from all over the world asking if we could try implementing it in their country! It was encouraging to receive such positive feedback from the MIT community and the international development community. It's one thing for us to think our stove is awesome--it's another story when others start believing it, too!
We have a lot to consider as we move forward--how do we want to pursue the design, how do we want to pursue dissemination... what's our direction?! Only time will tell...
This was our presentation video--a teaser to get people to come to our booth!
This was our booth poster:
The event began with 1 minute presentations from all the D-Lab project teams this semester; afterwards, people milled around and visited team presentation booths.
Our stove was very well received--the audience was REALLY excited about our stove, and we had people from all over the world asking if we could try implementing it in their country! It was encouraging to receive such positive feedback from the MIT community and the international development community. It's one thing for us to think our stove is awesome--it's another story when others start believing it, too!
We have a lot to consider as we move forward--how do we want to pursue the design, how do we want to pursue dissemination... what's our direction?! Only time will tell...
This was our presentation video--a teaser to get people to come to our booth!
This was our booth poster:
The De Florez Award Competition
Last week, our team applied for the De Florez Award, which awards MIT Mechanical Engineering students for innovations in design and/or science.
We presented our stove at the competition on May 6th, 2010. We ended up earning 3rd place for Undergraduate Design, winning $1500 cash and student editions of SolidWorks for our 4 team members!
Receiving an award and prize money is very exciting to say the least! It means that people actually like our product, they think it's innovative, and they want us to keep pushing forward with it. It's the "You're on the right track, keep going!" stamp of approval. Besides making us just FEEL more legit, it means we actually have money to fuel this project this summer and fall!
This was our submission video to the competition:
Here is one (very poor quality) photo of us ladies at the competition, manning our booth:
Here was our booth poster:
We presented our stove at the competition on May 6th, 2010. We ended up earning 3rd place for Undergraduate Design, winning $1500 cash and student editions of SolidWorks for our 4 team members!
Receiving an award and prize money is very exciting to say the least! It means that people actually like our product, they think it's innovative, and they want us to keep pushing forward with it. It's the "You're on the right track, keep going!" stamp of approval. Besides making us just FEEL more legit, it means we actually have money to fuel this project this summer and fall!
This was our submission video to the competition:
Here is one (very poor quality) photo of us ladies at the competition, manning our booth:
Here was our booth poster:
