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Worldwide, more than one billion people lack access to electricity. Village electrification using microgrids has the potential to provide rural households with reliable electricity that not only delivers light but also creates opportunities to use electricity for productive uses that enable economic development. Using a stochastic simulation model, we demonstrate that costs can be reduced by designing...
Many universities have an interest in providing global humanitarian experiences to students but often do not have the finances or time available to accommodate such experiences. By collaborating with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), universities can provide undergraduate students majoring in technical and medical fields these experiences. These opportunities can offer a significant understanding...
Agriculture is the backbone of African economies, especially in rural areas where over 70% of people rely on subsistence farming for their livelihood. In Rwanda and Uganda, where Africa Development Promise (ADP) works, 90% of economically active women work in the agricultural sector. Overall women work more and longer hours compared to men because of additional household responsibilities such as preparing...
Educational institutions, should set a role model, in the reduction of the carbon foot print, to protect mother earth. In this paper we focus on designing a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) based system, which can efficiently conserve the energy of class rooms and labs. We have identified temperature, light, pressure sensors to be utilized for this application. Infra Red receiver and transmitter is used...
The aim of this research was to construct a semi-autonomous seeker robot in the form factor of a rover that inherits a degree of intelligence for aiding rescue operations through rubble. The developed robot would be able to crawl through the limited space available under debris and wreckages, providing real-time video feed of the situation along with night vision capability. By the means of an onboard...
This paper describes the design and construction of a portable solar-powered phone booth coupled with a GPRS/GSM module capable of providing reliable communication while being independent of the electrical grid and telephone land-lines. Each phone booth has a pay phone case with electrical and electronic circuits to control the phone booth's operation including its power consumption and its lighting...
Soil and nutrient depletion from intensive use of land is a critical issue for food production. An understanding of whether the soil is adequately treated with appropriate crop management practices in real-time during production cycles could prevent soil erosion and the overuse of natural or artificial resources to keep the soil healthy and suitable for planting. Precision agriculture traditionally...
We describe Malasakit 1.0 (meaning “sincere care” in Filipino), a customizable participatory assessment platform that collects and streamlines quantitative and qualitative analyses and insights of disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies. While supervised classification approaches offer opportunity to understand qualitative textual suggestions, those methods break down in areas like the Philippines,...
This paper proposes a solution for small-scale off-grid power by exploiting the temperature gradient that exists in the natural surroundings. Thermoelectric Generators (TEG) are low-power and relatively inexpensive devices that have the ability to produce power based on a temperature differential between a hot side and a cold side. In this paper, solar power or simply the ambient temperature is used...
Green Trust, Kilowatts for Humanity, Seattle University and General Electric's We Share the Power installed a 2.4 kW solar energy kiosk in Chalokwa, Zambia. Green Trust has kept detailed records of the kiosk expenses and revenue sources, permitting a high fidelity analysis of the different aspects of the business operations. Gross profits are presented for different revenue sources, including non-perishable...
With the availability of medical data for large number of patients in hospitals, early detection of diseases has been made easier in the recent past. Conditions like Infertility which are hard to detect or diagnose can be now diagnosed with greater precision with the help of predictive modeling. One of the key challenges for early detection and timely treatment is in identifying and recording key...
Environmental monitoring encompasses systematic methods that observe and study conditions of natural resources such as air, land, and water. Challenges associated with traditional environmental monitoring methods include accessibility constraints imposed by harsh terrains and vast geographical areas, lack of real-time data collection and processing, and the inability to facilitate continuous monitoring...
Whenever a natural disaster strikes, IEEE members have wanted to help. To address this commitment to serve humanity, IEEE designed and built a mobile disaster relief vehicle committed to assisting victims of natural disasters. This unit provides short-term communications, computer, and power solutions. While it has performed admirably during natural disasters, it is too large and too expensive to...
Human breast milk is considered the gold standard for infant nutrition, as breast milk is the only substance that is able to provide infants with the necessary nutrients in their first six months of life. Infants who are fed mother's breast milk are at lower risk for developing a variety of infections and autoimmune diseases and often display better developmental and cognitive performance compared...
Drawing inspiration from the psychological literature on social change [e.g., 1, 2], we classify approaches to development engineering into three categories based on the depth, sustainability, and scalability of the resultant change within a community. In this context, we define “first-order change” as charity or direct service, in which a donor meets the immediate needs of a beneficiary; we define...
This document presents the development of a right-hand biomechanical prosthesis. This artificial limb provides range of motion to a person whose hand has been amputated at the wrist level, allowing them to grab objects through a cylindrical grip, lateral grip, tip grip and twisting of the wrist, helping the patient to perform daily activities like drinking water, holding pens, typing, and holding...
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common infections in developing countries such as Kenya. Despite this, their prevalence is virtually unknown from a patient's perspective, especially in rural communities. Worldwide, it is estimated that one in two women will contract a UTI during their lifetimes. More specifically, UTI incidence rates are nearly 20 percent higher in the developing...
Microgrids using renewable energy generators and energy storage are being suggested as a solution to rural electrification for many developing countries, even those with existing transmission / distribution networks. This is being driven by the rapidly falling costs of both solar and energy storage. However, the technology is changing rapidly in this area and existing technical standards often do...
Hybrid solar / diesel / battery microgrids are being suggested as a solution to rural electrification for many developing countries, even those with existing transmission / distribution networks. One question is how to balance the sizing of the various subsystems. Energy from photovoltaic systems is now far cheaper than even the lowest fuel-only costs for diesel generators. However, solar is only...
The increase in chronic illnesses globally has sparked a need for home-based healthcare interventions. In the African context, home-carers play a preponderant role in addressing the shortage of trained healthcare professionals by providing primary healthcare services. These nursing care activities offered by the home-carers generate medical waste in homes. There is a need to be concerned about medical...
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