Amy Smith

Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Amy Smith is the founder of the International Development Initiative at the MIT Edgerton Center and has taught classes related to this subject for more than ten years. After graduating from MIT in mechanical engineering, she served in the US Peace Corps in Botswana for four years and has also done field work in Senegal, South Africa, Nepal, Peru, Haiti, Honduras, Ghana and Zambia. She has taught engineering design at a variety of levels, ranging from undergraduate courses in mechanical engineering to high school enrichment programs to graduate courses in sustainable development. She won the 1999 BF Goodrich Collegiate Inventor’s Award for a phase-change incubator that operates without electricity and also won the 2000 MIT-Lemelson Student Prize for Invention. In 2001 she co-founded of the Service Learning program at MIT; she is also one of the co-founders of the MIT IDEAS Competition.

In 2003 she began teaching D-Lab, a series of courses and field trips that focus on international development, appropriate technologies, and sustainable solutions for communities in developing countries. In 2004 she was selected as a MacArthur Fellow, recognizing her efforts in creating technologies to improve lives in the developing world and for finding opportunities to inspire students to do the same. Her current projects are in the areas of water testing and treatment, agricultural processing and alternative energy.

Benjamin Linder, PhD

Associate Professor of Design and Mechanical Engineering

Olin College

Benjamin Linder is faculty member in Design and Mechanical Engineering at the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and a designer active in the Boston area. His teaching and research interests include sustainable design, international development, creative design methods and human-centered design. He is an experienced teacher and practitioner of sustainable product design and regularly consults and delivers workshops on a range of related topics internationally. He has co-taught Design for Demining at MIT for a number of years and has extensive experience working with the humanitarian demining community developing and testing products for use in landmine removal. Benjamin holds degrees in engineering focused on design from the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Harald Quintus Bosz

VP of Engineering

Cooper Perkins

Harald Quintus-Bosz is Cooper Perkins’ Chief Technology Officer. Harald has over 15 years of product development experience. Harald started his career designing medical X-ray imaging equipment at XRE later joining IDEO. After 6 years at IDEO, Harald joined Materials and Technologies, a semiconductor capital equipment start-up. Harald was the sole mechanical designer of the WaveEtch tool and was responsible for prototype development, production, publicity, market research, and business development. Harald holds 3 US patents and holds an SB degree from MIT and an MS degree from Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering.

IDDS 2008 Organizers

Zubaida Bai (organizer, mentor) holds a graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering with development of Modular Products as a major from Dalarna University, Borlange, Sweden. She has worked as a Project Officer for L-RAMP, a project of Chennai based not-for-profit Rural Innovations Network (RIN) in partnership with IIT Madras and The Lemelson Foundation. Over the last two years Zubaida has been providing technological & business advice in the areas of product development and design to rural innovators. She has also played a pivotal role in developing Innovations that have a potential social benefit. Zubaida has been on the evaluation panel for various conferences and business plan competitions, the latest being, an assessor for the Development Marketplace competition administered by the World Bank, to identify and grant fund innovative and early stage projects. Zubaida has also been involved in offering training programs on various aspects of Product Innovation. In 2007, she was chosen as one of the 5 finalists at the International Young Design Entrepreneurs Award organised by British Consulate..

Donna Cohn (mentor) is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Applied Design at Hampshire College. She received a B.S. from the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University, and a Master of Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design. She has worked with assistive technology and universal design over the past 25 years, first designing customized devices with the Boston Center for Independent Living, and later working as a product designer for AliMed, a medical product manufacturing and distribution company. Her interests include appropriate technology, kinetic sculpture, gardening, and collecting useful things from dumpsters. She lives and works on urgent design problems at Rocky Hill Co-housing in Northampton, MA.

Tombo Banda (organizer) is a former participant from last year who has come back to be an organiser for this years summit. She is originally from Malawi and has just completed a MEng in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College in London. She is am passionate about empowering people and using engineering to improve and enhance standards of living. She loves politics and debate, and also enjoys playing sports in her spare time. She is fairly competent at SolidWorks and can help with metal fabrication in the workshop if people require help on their projects!

Miguel Chaves (organizer) was born and lives in São Paulo. He is a forth year student at Escola Politécnica – University of São Paulo. He studies Mechanical Engineering and is interested in renewable energy, product innovation, and social responsibility. Prior to university, Miguel studied computer science for two years. Miguel was a IDDS 07 participant and then went on to be participant and organizer for the 2008 conference. Moreover, next to his arrival in Brazil after IDDS07, Miguel was one of the founders of the Engineers Without Borders Brazil. He enjoys sharing solutions with communities and improving their quality of life. In his free time, Miguel likes to play sports, travel and discover other cultures.

Deepa Dubey (organizer) completed her bachelor in Architecture from Priyadarshini College of Engineering and Architecture in Nagpur, India. She has recently completed a Masters in Industrial Design from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur. She was selected as a participant for IDDS 2007 and worked on creating a low cost model of a refrigerator and has returned again as an oraganizer for IDDS 2008. Her specific interest area is Development Design.Being an Architect and a Designer she likes to learn, explore and take new experiences.

Nadia Elkordy (organizer) Nadia Elkordy is a 2008 graduate from MIT with an SB degree in Mechanical Engineering. Her interest in international development was sparked during a lecture given at IDDS in its inaugural year, and she has been hooked ever since. Nadia has participated in a number of development endeavors over the past year, including a rope pump training and construction project while in Honduras, and an ongoing project in collaboration with the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) to develop a process for making pencils from bamboo, a venture that will eventually be implemented as an income-generating enterprise in India. Nadia is immensely awed by the IDDS coordinators and participants and is excited to be working with them!

Jim Fearnside (mentor) is retired electronics engineer who spent his career designing medical equipment for diagnosing problems in human hearts. He has enjoyed teaching voluntarily over the years, including teaching courses in calculus, advanced placement physics, and advanced algebra. He has worked with his hands all of his life, and has done many projects using both wood and metal. He has rebuilt several houses, and so he knows something about electrical wiring, plumbing, and carpentry. He has worked with MIT student groups who design machines that could be useful for starting small businesses in rural areas. Previous projects have been a charcoal briquette press for use in rural Haiti, and an improved solar cooker for use in western China. Working with students on these projects has been a lot of fun, and for many this has been a first real design project. The steps that a group goes through are very familiar to him. Other hobbies include sailing, biking, kayaking, and mountain climbing.

Amit Ghandi (organizer) Amit Gandhi is a senior in Mechanical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. He was an organizer and participant in the 2007 IDDS where he worked on the BioLight project: using microbial fuel cells for powering applications in the developing world. In addition to IDDS, Amit is also developing a solar water distiller for use in Guatemala through funding from the World Water Forum.

Jose Gomez-Marquez (mentor) is the program director for the Innovations in International Health initiative at MIT. Among the projects under his technology practice at IIH is the Aerovax Drug Delivery System, a device for mass delivery of inhalable drugs and vaccines to remote populations. The rest of his IIH invention portfolio includes SafePilot, a next generation cane for the blind, and most recently, the X out TB program, which aims to increase TB therapy adherence in developing countries using novel diagnostics and mobile technology. These technologies have been featured in Forbes, Wired, the Booz Allen Hamilton Technology Petting Zoo, and the Dow Jones Emerging Ventures Conference on Tomorrow’s Innovation. Originally, he came to the United States from his native Honduras on a Rotary scholarship and now he currently lives in Newton.

Mary Hong (organizer) is a 3rd year undergraduate student at MIT. A long-time resident of Boston, Mary started off as an Aerospace Engineering major and first became involved in international development through D-lab: Development class fall of sophomore year. She traveled on the first ever D-lab trip to Peru led by Amy and Don Gwyn, working on pedal-powered and hand corn sheller, corncob charcoal, phase-change field incubators, cook-stove experiments and soy-milk making among others. The experience changed her perspectives and inspired her interest to become more active in entrepreneurship, technologies and issues dealing with the developing world. Mary is currently working towards a dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Management Science.

Crossman Hormenoo (organizer, mentor) works as a Workshop Manager of the Suame Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit, which is a part of the Kwwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. His duties include the design and manufacture of a wide range of machinery and processes used in agriculture, food processing, wood processing and general industrial processing. His area of interest is focused around developing simple technologies to help reduce poverty and help improve the quality of life for those living in developing countries. He particpated in IDDS 2007 and for four weeks he and his team worked on a low cost refrigerator project . He returned as an organizer for the 2008 conference and is hugely excited by the prospect of IDDS 2009 in his home country of Ghana!

Ryan Hubbard (organizer) was a member of the third graduating class from the newly founded Olin College here in Massachusetts. Inspired by a talk that Amy Smith gave at his school, he and three classmates spent their senior year working with a Guatemalan company to design improved wood-burning stoves. His next adventure involves moving to UK late this fall, and he’s currently looking for exciting work in or around London, hopefully with a startup of some kind. In his free time Ryan enjoys picking up various skills and hobbies, such as spinning fire or playing the guitar. He’s more than happy to give fire spinning lessons (he’s been doing it for a few years) or accept guitar lessons (he just started and needs all the help he can get).

Gwyndaf Jones (organizer, mentor) is a D-lab trip leader and project mentor. He graduated from Hampshire College having studied agricultural economics and has had several somewhat related career paths, first in manufacturing and then starting a small company that made bicycle frames. This led him to product design and development, which, in a convoluted way, led to work with D-lab and Maya Pedal and lots of pedal powered machines. He has also worked on a variety of other technologies in D-lab including solid fuel stoves, hand corn shellers, nut shellers, to name a few.

Kendra Leith (organizer) Kendra is from a small town just west of Boston called Holden, Massachusetts. She graduated from Wheaton College (MA) with a degree in Economics in 2006. She is currently pursuing her Master in City Planning degree at MIT with a concentration in international development. Kendra has worked for Amy Smith for the last two years during which she served as the trip leader for D-Lab India and as a teaching assistant for D-Lab. During the last two years, she has also worked in Tanzania, but her current research is in Mexico. She works primarily on the logistical side of planning for IDDS. However, she is also interested in evaluation. Kendra is always excited about meeting new people and learning about different cultures.

Carlos Enrique Marroquin Machan (mentor) is Guatemalan and has been working in appropriate technology design for more than 13 years. He builds “bicimaquinas” (bicycle machines) with used bike parts, many of which are currently in use among many Guatemalan communities. He participated in the MIT IDDS conference in 2007 and returned again this year in the role of a mentor. He is currently working at La Asociacion Maya Pedal.

Daniel Mokrauer-Madden (organizer) Daniel Mokrauer-Madden holds undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Physics from MIT. He has worked on health and education projects with Asha for Education in India. He spent the past year working to expand the Service Learning program at MIT. He is also working on improving indoor air quality in Lesotho. He is currently awaiting assignment from the Peace Corps to teach secondary level mathematics.

Dennis Nagle (mentor) has been a mentor with D-lab since the beginning of 2007. Previously, he’s had 35 years of experience as a mechanical engineer, and has also worked as a chemical engineer, and an artist, working primarily with light. He’s extremely, maybe even ridiculously passionate about D-Lab and IDDS’ core idea of using engineering to make a positive and powerful impact in the world, and is constantly thrilled to be able to use his life’s engineering experience to help build cool things that help communities internationally.

Sumit Pahwa (organizer) was born in a small town in India named Abohar. He did his Diploma in Welding Technology from Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (Punjab, India) and is currently pursuing his B.E. in Manufacturing Engineering from the same institute. He has worked with D-Lab for community uplifting and technology transfer. He is cordinating a students club “PRAYAAS” from last three years. His academic projects includes ‘Designn and Mechanization of the Welding Table’. He worked on providing the Low Cost Water Purification System made from locally available materials during the International Development Design Summit’07. His leisures includes dancing, playing and listening to music. His areas of interest are Low cost design solutions and welding technology.

Ariel Phillips (organizer, mentor) grew up in California, received a master’s degree in Agricultural Education from the U. of California, then a doctorate in Human Development from Harvard. Her particular interests are in human communities, learning environments, biodiversity, conflict resolution, and cultural similarities and differences. She now works at Harvard in an office that provides many different kinds of programs, including workshops on group relations and academics, and she enjoys discussing issues of meaning and purpose in life. She loved working with IDDS last year and is delighted to be part of it again this year. Her roles at IDDS include working with mentors and participants on the process side of their work; She is available to try to help with teamwork and decision-making, and will also be helping with the evaluation – both short term and long-term – of IDDS.

John Quansah (organizer, mentor) is a Ghanaian National is a research fellow in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology(KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana. He currently works at the Technology Consultancy Centre(TCC) as the manager of the Centre’s Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit(ITTU) at…in Kumasi. He did his undergraduate studies at KNUST and pursued his graduate education at Cranfield University in England. He has been working in the area of appropriate technology for over thirty years and his areas of interest include; Renewable energy, particularly solar, biomass and biofuels; Facilitating the establishment of small manufacturing engineering machine shops; Development of intermediate technologies to reduce…in agro-processing and post-harvest activities; Promotion of small scale enterprizes using appropriate technologies and locally available materials. He currently lives in Ghana with his wife and three sons.

Ruben Sanchez-Fernandez (organizer, mentor) is a Guatemalan architect, urban planner and educator. He possesses 14 years of experience owning and operating an award-winning architectural firm, Fersa. He was also the Vice Dean of the School of Architecture at the Universidad del Istmo in Guatemala. And co-founded an NGO, Amigos del Desarrollo, which assists to promote development projects in rural areas of Guatemala. At MIT he finished a Fulbright Humphrey fellowship with concentration in Planning and Development.

Laura Stupin (organizer) has been a chief organizer of IDDS from its inception nearly two years ago. She is a member of the second class to ever graduate from Olin College, and now works as staff member in D-Lab at MIT where she mentors student teams and leads project trips to Zambia. She also studied for a semester in Thailand, where she worked with the Coastal Preservation and Development Foundation to find alternative waste water systems for the island of Koh Tao.

Niall Walsh (organizer) hails from the Dublin mountains in Ireland and is currently a final year English major studying at Trinity College Dublin. He has worked in his home country to help combat localized poverty through the Vincent De Paul Society and has also volunteered abroad with Suas, an Irish based NGO which aims to support primary and secondary education programs in Kenya and India. He is currently head of the Trinity Volunteering Opportunities Forum, an organization which aims to facilitate the growth of volunteering and service learning within Trinity College. He helped to document the conference this year and updated a blog daily to track the progress of the summit. Niall is an avid reader and also enjoys playing soccer, tennis, table tennis, basketball, netball and just about any other sport you can name. He is very excited about IDDS 2009 in Ghana!