Global Development Lab – Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity

October 1, 2021February 10, 2022

Biodegradable Plastics Research – Where Engineering & Chemistry Intersect for Broader Impact

In the Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity’s Global Development Lab, our interdisciplinary teams made up of students, fellows, faculty, and industry professionals are working to create meaningful solutions to promote resilient humanity, all of which address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Where Engineering & Chemistry Intersect for Broader Impact report addresses biodegradable plastics where engineering and chemistry intersect.

Currently, many biodegradable products in the market are bio-based, such as polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids, and are focused on conventional plastic applications. This approach to the production of biodegradable plastics, however, is facing mounting challenges due to high cost, weaker performance, and environmental issues. Additionally, several biodegradable plastics have proven to break down quickly under specific, simulated environmental conditions, but they may not be effectively degradable under natural conditions. As a result of these challenges and many alike, there is a gap in the market.

As our Project Affiliates, Dr. David Son and Dr. Paul Krueger are investigating a prototype plastic that has predictable degradation and mechanical properties, in order to bridge this gap. In the spirit of interdisciplinary innovation, they seek to develop a joint chemical and engineering approach to biodegradable plastics for broader impact.

Dr. Son says, “As a chemist, I have the capability and knowledge to design a material from the molecular level up. It’s a challenge to synthesize a material with the ‘right’ properties. You can prepare a material cheaply, but it may not degrade. Or you can make a material that degrades too quickly or is not 3D-printable. In today’s world, the plastics disposal problem is not going away anytime soon, and it is exciting that Professor Krueger and our labs can help make a difference.”

Dr. Krueger says, “Material properties are important for durability and functionality of engineered systems. But they are also important for what happens when you are finished using the system. Having materials that can fulfill their design role as well as existing materials and can also easily degrade to facilitate future disposal is extremely valuable, but difficult to achieve. It’s a pleasure working with Prof. Son to achieve this dream and help to reduce plastic waste.”

There are many uses for biodegradable plastics to address our current state of plastics pollution. One potential future application could be biodegradable plastic used in combination with 3-D printing technology specifically designed for use with the unique geometric properties of the biodegradable prototype plastic. Compatibility with 3D printing methods would help to facilitate biodegradable plastic’s replacement of other less desirable materials, especially given its rapidly growing adoption and application for manufacturing both prototype and production components. The lab is developing a 3D printing technology (extrude and cure additive manufacturing, or ECAM) that can simultaneously print and cure thermoset polymers such as those considered in this project.

Another significant opportunity for the biodegradable plastic industry is an application towards alleviating medical waste. Focusing on producing better-quality medical supplies and reducing the end-of-life waste associated with such products, this application works towards the third UN SDG “to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages,” as well as the fourteenth UN SDG, which aims “to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources”[1].

In order to address this challenge, our team of multidisciplinary students and subject matter experts has been working diligently to develop biodegradable plastic with more desirable characteristics and predictable degradation properties. Through this research, they hope to address medical waste and produce a product that could potentially be used in 3D printing. A portion of the report provides a market analysis of biodegradable plastics, a discussion of their applications, and updates from the lab’s progress in their research.

Both the Son and Krueger labs continue to research a biodegradable plastic that is comparable in function and cost to the industry standard while achieving alternatives to traditional disposal and decomposition. Continue to read the Hunt Institute Digest for more information about this project and others like it.

Undergraduate Project Managers: Sydney Lobato and Taylor Grace

Undergraduate Research Analyst: Katherine Nguyen

Undergraduate Lab Researchers: Son Lab: Anderson Wey and Jamie Hall; Krueger Lab: Sami Streb

Global Development Lab Portfolio Manager: Corrie A. Harris, M.A., MBA

Hunt Institute Affiliates: Dr. David Son and Dr. Paul Krueger

[1] Oceans – United Nations Sustainable Development. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/oceans/

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

September 24, 2021February 10, 2022

Kijiji Innovative Sustainable Solutions Design Competition Update

Kijiji Innovative Sustainable Solutions (K.I.S.S.)—in partnership with SMU’s Sustainability + Development Program (S+DP), the Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity (HI), and three universities in Tanzania—launched an architectural competition for the design of the Rulegura Centre back in 2020.

Student teams drafted building plans for the Rulegura Center, which were then evaluated by a panel of three international jurors (Dr. Michael Ramage, Dr. Victoria Marwa Heilman, and Paul Westbrook). As the final step in the Rulegura Design Competition, each university (Mbeya University of Science and Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, and Ardhi University) hosted separate events to celebrate both the participants and the winners.

Surprisingly, when our international jury panel unanimously selected the top three project placements in the competition, each chosen project was designed by a group of students from a different one of the three Universities that participated. Due to the anonymity of the competition, this outcome was completely by chance. However, these results left everybody involved pleasantly surprised because all the universities had equal reason to celebrate!

Organizing the participation certificates, placement awards, and printed design submissions would not have been possible without the dedication of University Coordinators, Professor Sayuni Bupe, Professor Buberwa Tibesigwa, Professor Raymond Kassonga, and SMU S+DP student Alejandra Hinojosa, with the HI Team. Also, Kijiji Board Members Clara Rulegura Ford, Martin Rulegura, and Dr. Jessie Zarazaga contributed to making sure the posters, trophies, and monetary awards were delivered to the students. Despite an 8-hour time difference and a number of moving pieces, the Kijiji team was able to get all of the parts in place so that the universities could hold their celebrations.

Following several weeks of coordination and planning, we received pictures from Raymond at Ardhi University of their school’s event. At this event, winners and participants of the Kasisa Community Center Competition received awards and certificates. An array of dynamic students studying architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, building economics, and civil engineering attended the celebration. The images depict the first-place winners, Renalda Lwilla and Muhumuliza Luveiyamu, as well as Ardhi University student participants, and images from the event that day.

On possible future student opportunities regarding this collaboration, Dr. Jessie Zarazga said:

“Students in the SMU S+DP Masters program followed-on by jumping into the same design challenge, producing their own sustainable design proposals for Kasisa, and learning from the work of the Tanzanian cohort. For the next stage we hope to coordinate a more direct integration of teaching structures, so that real international collaboration can be developed.”

This update was written by Alejandra Hinojosa, S+DP Grad Program Manager 2021.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

August 30, 2021February 10, 2022

Waste to Energy Broader Impact Report

Waste to Energy: Harnessing the fuel in organic waste to create a business opportunity for a recycling-based society and system, Harshada Pednekar

In the summer of 2020, Harshada Pednekar, at the time pursuing a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering at SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, was approached by the Institute’s Executive Director, Dr. Eva Csaky, to work on waste to energy research. Amidst the pandemic, Harshada joined the team remotely and immediately hit the ground running on her research, despite the challenges of getting acclimated to a new role without being in-person.

Harshada is passionate about the environment and achieving sustainable business practices while being mindful of the triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit. She had a professional career in India, most notably working as a Design Engineer at Indo-French company Mailhem-Ikos Environment Pvt. Ltd. where she designed portable biogas plants and bio-methanation (UASB Reactor) plants, with capacity ranging from 1000 kg to 100 TPD of municipal solid waste. After graduation, Harshada began work at AECOM in Greenville, South Carolina as a Civil Engineer.

Research on this report went well beyond desk research, as Harshada also examined industry best practices and gained insight from experts in the field. We were fortunate to have excellent industry advisors from the Terra Group at Toyota Motor North America, Inc.; Matthew Sheldon, Hunt Institute Social Intrapreneur; Jason S Sekhon, Fuel Cell and Hydrogen SME; Mark Hitchock, Zero waste, recycling, and the City of Plano Liaison; and Kelli Gregory, NTCOG liaison, clean energy mobility. Faculty advisors included Dr. Eva Csaky, Hunt Institute Executive Director, and Mohammad Khodayar, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Lyle School of Engineering.

Harshada completed her report shortly before graduating, and the final report is titled Waste to Energy: Harnessing the fuel in organic waste to create a business opportunity for a recycling-based society and system.

Included in the report is a quote from President of Toyota Motor Corporation Akio Toyoda, who said, “I believe that our mission is to provide goods and services that make people throughout the world happy, or, in other words to “mass produce” happiness…I view this as also being a part of earnestly engaging in the sustainable development goals.”

The summary states that to generate a feasible amount of methane to support a digester, it is estimated that 10 to 12 tons/d, with 8-10% contamination and 80% of the contamination being bioplastics, can produce about 70 Nm3/h of biogas. This is the amount of biogas needed to produce 200 kg/day of hydrogen, which is the smallest commercially available packaged system. The greenhouse gas emission (GHG) for IngeoTM is currently 1.3 kg CO2 eq./kg polymer compared to approx. 3.2 kg CO2 eq./kg polymer for PET. Therefore, implementing anaerobic digestion for PLA can reduce around 942.5 kg – 1132 kg per day of CO2 equivalent emissions.

A total of 1 ton per day of undigested bioplastic with 30% of total solids will be sent to landfills; 3 tons per day of dewatered digestate cake can be utilized for composting, and Class A fertilizer can be produced. The research on anaerobic degradation of biopolymers is still in its infancy. Therefore, this report has discussed different pre-treatment alternatives to treat PLA such as physical, chemical, and thermal treatments. The findings suggests on-site segregation benefits of the current solid waste management scenario in the commercial sector of Plano, Texas. This report consists of a description of existing scenarios and possible pre-treatment alternatives for bioplastic degradation generated from the commercial sector in hopes of finding a solution good for people, our planet, and that can be a viable and profitable solution for a city like Plano, Texas.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

August 13, 2021February 16, 2022

Summer 2021 Recap

Summer in the Hunt Institute is always an exciting season of transition and growth for our team. Though the summer team is typically smaller with many of our student workers participating in internships or taking summer classes, it was nonetheless encouraging to be able to engage in person with our coworkers after adjusting to a hybrid workspace for much of the last year. After we celebrated our graduating students in May, we changed gears to a summer of training new team members and strengthening our processes, delving deeper into existing projects, and continuing to engage with our community. This post serves to highlight some specific happenings in the Institute over this summer:

In June, Mohammed Njie shared a HunTalk about his journey to bring clean energy to The Gambia and the support of his colleagues in the Institute along the way.

Mohammed said that clean, reliable energy in The Gambia “is necessary now more than ever given the effects of climate change on agriculture, the country’s most important industry. This makes our venture a necessary and worthy cause.”

Also taking place in June was the final ImpactNights ™ of the academic year, which was dedicated to “Freedom Day” with an expert-led look at the obstructions in our justice system that hinder economic freedom for a significant number of black and brown Americans. Read more about the event here and view the engaging conversation here.

The Social Enterprise Program in the Institute was a focus this summer, as the 2021 Cohort of Social Intrapreneurs continued developing their innovative solutions. Working to support the intrapreneurs is Valecia Harris, the graduate Program Consultant and Manager for the Social Enterprise Program.

Valecia noted that she is “excited to be part of a team where I can lend my knowledge and experience in developing strategies and supporting innovative solutions that generate transformational impact.”

Undergraduate student workers are involved in this area as well, as Undergraduate Research Analyst Scott Zuo was featured in July for his research involving inclusive economy best practices and mapping of the international ecosystem for social enterprise.

As mentioned previously, many student workers in the Hunt Institute received tremendous opportunities to acquire new skills and experiences through internships outside of the Institute. Undergraduate Marketer John Morgan reminded us to worry less and dream more after recounting his experience working with children as a program specialist at Lakeview Methodist Conference Center, and Undergraduate Research Analyst Sam Borton explained his summer research on non-revenue water at the Institute for Technology and Global Health. We are excited to reconnect with all of our student workers who worked elsewhere this summer to hear about their experiences.

Lastly, we highlight the exciting progress being made on STEM Up Phase II, in which using the solar power produced at Tintinto Primary and Secondary School in The Gambia, low-cost and low-power servers and refurbished laptops will outfit a computer lab. This project continues to progress as Wilkie Stevenson ’20 works tirelessly to finalize the prototype.

Be sure to stay up to date on these and the many other exciting projects and initiatives happening at the Hunt Institute this Fall. Pony Up!

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

August 9, 2021February 16, 2022

STEM Up Phase II Goes to Tintinto, The Gambia

Phase II of STEM Up continues to evolve, featuring a Wi-Fi-generating computer cart to be used in combination with the solar power being produced at Tintinto Primary and Secondary School in The Gambia. Wilkie Stevenson, an alumnus of SMU Lyle School of Engineering, spent the majority of his college employment as an Undergraduate Research Analyst for the Hunt Institute where he worked on various projects, such as STEM Up, that are designed to support rural access to digital education in communities around the world. Early on in Mohammed Njie’s project research for Illuminating Tintinto, he and Wilkie began to discuss the potential of their two projects collaborating, with STEM Up going to The Gambia to be tested.

September 24, 2021, we welcomed a multi-disciplinary and multi-national audience for a demonstration of the STEM Up Phase II prototype on its way to The Gambia to be beta tested. Joining us for the demonstration was Haddijatou Lamin Njie, an International Development Expert with over 25 years of working with government, multilateral organizations, and international non-government organizations (NGOs) in The Gambia.

Ms. Lamin Njie responded to the demo with, “For me, this prototype opens doors. It is a huge entry point with so much possibility to build on and contextualize.” Considering Ms. Lamin Njie’s proven track record of leading and evaluating development programs, her words offered humbling confirmation that the STEM Up Phase II project is on the right track towards making an impact.

Wilkie graduated in 2020 amidst the global pandemic. After graduation, he continued to work on the STEM Up concept, designing a unit that will broadcast digital educational resources over Wi-Fi. Using the solar power produced at Tintinto Primary and Secondary School, the theory is to utilize low-cost and low-power servers, along with refurbished laptops, to outfit a computer lab. The Wi-Fi generated by the computer cart can also be used by other devices in addition to the supplied computers. With no internet connection in Tintinto, the STEM Up team decided to create a unique solution. Instead of attempting to provide internet to remote schools, they took the approach of downloading vast amounts of open source educational media and creating a static, offline version of the internet. This allows for a variety of educational media and digital materials to be accessible by any device connected to the open WiFi network, without internet connection. With years of pre downloaded educational media, this system will not only bridge the digital divide but will also teach computer literacy so that communities are prepared to take full advantage of the internet once they are connected. Open source materials include Wikipedia, Khan Academy, Crash Course, and Ted Talks, along with open-source K-12 educational resources. In addition, the hard drive contains the entire Project Gutenberg (one million books), WikiEM, and much more.

This redesign is the essence of STEM Up Phase II. It is essentially a computer cart functioning as a starter kit for a computer lab. The school was designed with a computer lab, but it has sat empty since its completion. The teachers and students in Tintinto Primary and Secondary School have agreed to beta test the concept and provide invaluable feedback. The goal is for teachers to be able to curate and preload materials, media, and interactive games to augment their curriculum, as they introduce computers and digital learning materials to the classroom experience.

According to Statista, “The lack of digital skills concerns a large share of the African population. In 2019, the adoption rate of digital skills stood at only 10 percent in Mozambique and 23 percent in Côte d’Ivoire, meaning that most of the people were not able to use digital devices and applications, nor access the internet.” Rural areas in Africa are lagging behind the development of urban areas due to many factors, with a major one being infrastructure which dramatically affects the level of education that teachers are able to provide their students. In recent years, the development community has started identifying the Global North vs. the Global South based on indicators like access to education and technology. In The Gambia, a West African country surrounded by Senegal, just 48% of people have moderate, yet sometimes unreliable, access to electricity (typically in urban areas) and the remaining 52% have no access (typically remote rural areas). Solar energy and distributed generation are transforming rural communities. Organizations like Barefoot College and Janta, Mohammed’s social enterprise, seek to mitigate this lag with distributed generation that individuals and communities own. With this research, we hope to take it one step further and add access to a computer lab for rural schools.

Mohammed and Wilkie plan to travel to Tintinto village to train the teachers on the computers and to test the system’s tolerance for the conditions at the school. Risk management is an important piece of the project design, with factors such as dust, heat, moisture, and environmental conditions being considered. Technical limitations like battery life and hours of daylight for recharging after school are all variables that are also being considered in the planning stage.

Stay tuned to the Hunt Institute Digest to watch this project unfold.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

May 6, 2021February 17, 2022

Better Building: Compressed Earth Blocks Report

“Our society as a whole needs to leverage the forces of globalization, technological advancement, and climate change – what the UN calls ‘the three mega forces’ – for disruptive solutions to further inclusive sustainable economic development,” said Director of the Hunt Institute Dr. Eva Csaky. “We can reach this goal by harnessing the power of disruptive collaboration.” The CEB research partnership and collaboration between Dr. Brett Story and the Hunt Institute began in 2015 for just this purpose.

Previous phases for this research included Phase I, focusing on the strength testing of CEBs under a variety of conditions including varying moisture levels, cement content, and soil type. This research was followed by Phase II, focusing on determining characteristics for different types of soil found globally as a first step in standardization.

Phase III’s objectives were somewhat altered due to the global pandemic which resulted in breaking the work into two parts. This semester the team developed a report entitled,” Better Building: Compressed Earth Block Report,” which highlights the market opportunity and sustainability of compressed earth blocks in construction. The project manager is JuliaGrace Walker, and the undergraduate researcher is Madison Rodriguez.

The next part of the project will take place during the summer and fall term of 2021. In Phase III, analyses will be performed and data will be compared from the test structures at both the Taos and Dallas campuses. Relationships between soil type and mix design, block strength, and thermal properties will also be investigated. Additionally, this investigation will include models developed by Dr. Story’s lab team which is comprised of Ph.D. students Jase Sitton and Robert Hillyard, as well as undergraduate researchers Adriana Mena and Ziyu Sun. Combined together, both parts of Phase III will inform the vision of a living laboratory at SMU@ Taos.

Dr. Story’s vision is ultimately “…to use the data obtained during this project to make recommendations for full-scale, more permanent structures that can be used by faculty and students at the SMU Taos campus. The information learned during this project will be used to start the design of a “living” laboratory, which would be a laboratory building constructed with CEB and instrumented with a variety of sensors. In this way, the structure is both the laboratory space as well as the test specimen.”

CEBs are an emerging earthen construction technology that contribute to stronger and more resilient earth infrastructure. As interest in sustainable construction technology has increased, more research has been conducted on CEBs as an alternative to traditional masonry. Comparing CEB to traditional masonry, CEB structures can be more energy efficient throughout their life cycle. When approached accordingly, they can are energy efficient to produce and transport, while conserving resources and reducing waste production. CEBs are better insulated due to their high thermal mass and thermal resistance. Subsequently, their high thermal inertia gives CEBs the advantage of humidity regulation, and evaporation of water in the earthen walls contributes to natural cooling. CEBs represent a cost effective, energy efficient, and sustainable solution that directly contribute to the ninth and eleventh UN Sustainable Development Goals, which address industry, innovation, and infrastructure, as well as sustainable cities and communities. CEBs indirectly contribute to many other SDGs through their impact on health, household incomes (through cost savings) and quality of life.

Sam Borton contributed to this post.

Read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems here. We invite you to listen Join us for ImpactNights® or listen to our podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the Institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our weekly update by emailing your contact information to huntinstitute@smu.edu.

April 25, 2021February 17, 2022

Winners of the Kijiji Innovative Sustainable Solutions Design Competition

Winners of the K.I.S.S Design Competition

On Wednesday, April 14, 2021, The Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity hosted an exhibition featuring the various architectural designs created by 17 teams of 31 students from 3 universities competing for 1st prize in the Kijiji Innovation Sustainable Solutions Design Competition. Students, staff, and faculty of Southern Methodist University were invited to view the displays. Additionally, Clara Rulegura Ford, founder of Kijiji Innovative Sustainable Solutions (K.I.S.S.), and a panel of 4 judges, were tasked with selecting the student team that would get the chance to implement their design at the Rulegura Center in northern Tanzania.

KISS Design Competition — The exhibit at the Hunt Institute displayed students’ designs.

The Center, which will be built in Kasisa Village, will serve as the hub for executing K.I.S.S.’s mission – to promote sustainable development in rural Tanzania and to protect the country’s wildlife and natural resources. The Center will be used for community meetings and trainings for villagers to learn sustainable methods and practices related to energy, construction, health, agriculture, and more.

After much deliberation on all of the wonderful submissions, the judges declared the following teams as the winners of the K.I.S.S. Design Competition:

The first-place winners are Renalda Lwilla and Muhumuliza Lugeiyamu from Ardhi University.

KISS Award — The certificate awarded to the first-place team.

The second-place winners are Walter John and Immaneul Mutoka from Mbeya University of Science & Technology.

The third-place winners are Doreen Sanga, Emmanuel Waheke, Jackline Samwel, and Daud John from the University of Dar es Salaam.

To view the design plans of the top three teams, visit the competition site here.

When asked about the success of the event, Ms. Ford commented, “I was so impressed by the design ideas from the students. They were well thought out and just wonderful. I congratulate the winners for a job well done, and I’m so proud of all the students for their courage and willingness to participate in the contest. Their energy and enthusiasm gives me hope in a bright, sustainable future for Tanzania.”

Stay tuned to the Hunt Institute Digest for updates on the Kijiji project and the construction of the Rulegura Center!

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

April 14, 2021June 17, 2021

2021 SMU Giving Day: The Power of One Person’s Vision

Mohammed Njie envisions a future in which all of Africa has access to reliable, affordable, clean energy in his lifetime. Since his first day at the Hunt Institute, he has been working to make this vision a reality, starting with his home country of The Gambia. Mohammed developed a plan with the help of the Hunt Institute team. During that process, Mohammed founded Janta Energy, a social enterprise, with the goal of bringing clean, reliable energy to The Gambia. Like all great ideas, he needed a pilot project to test his hypothesis that rural schools could be fully functional with solar panels because the majority of their meeting time is during daylight hours. The pilot has the panels connected to batteries for evening classroom access. The long-term goal is to include fuel cells when the technology advances enough to offer an affordable option.

After securing permission from the Minister of Energy for The Gambia and local leadership in Tintinto, the team installed the technology needed to illuminate 50% of Tintinto Primary and Secondary School. During Janta’s pilot project, the team was able to pull data from the school’s energy use and excess, evaluating capacity in planning what should be installed to complete the project. After a year of use, based on the findings, the technology has proven that it will be a viable solution going forward.

In the spring semester of 2021, the student employees’ goal was to raise the remaining money needed to finish the pilot; they called it the “Illuminating Tintinto” project and submitted it to the SMU Giving Day roster. Through their hard work, they spread the word to generous donors who donated to complete the project. Now 100% of the Tintinto Primary and Secondary School will be powered by solar panels. Access to electricity will make available an entirely new learning environment, providing tools for teachers to use to enhance the learning experience of students in Tintinto.

In response to the generous donations made to support his pilot project, Mohammed said, “This is amazing. We are one step closer to making the dreams and hopes of the students in Tintinto village a reality. Progress and sustainability are possible through education, and energy access makes education a limitless experience for students. I am very excited about the future of Tintinto village, its students, and its people.”

With the knowledge and experience gained through this process, Mohammed intends on scaling Janta. By replicating the same technology, he plans to continue using local resources and labor to outfit other schools, eventually expanding the idea for use in rural hospitals in his pursuit to bring clean energy to all of The Gambia.

We, the team at the Hunt Institute, would like to thank all the supporters supporting the group of student employees determined to help Illuminate Tintinto. We are excited to see the progress that Mohammed Njie is making and are proud of the student employees that embody our university motto, “World Changers Shaped Here.”

Many of our supporters have long been by our side, some are new friends, and still, others are our very own SMU Alumni that worked in the Institute and returned to once again aid in our impact. Thank you!

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

April 13, 2021February 10, 2022

Illuminating Tintinto | Hunt Institute’s Project for SMU Giving Day 2021

Today is SMU Giving Day – the one day of the year for all Mustangs to come together in support of the SMU causes and students we care about most. Giving day is not about how much we each give, it’s about the impact we can make as a collective. The more Mustangs who give, the more positive change we can create. Donations received are put into a matching program, making all donations even more impactful and appreciated.

For this year’s SMU Giving Day, the Hunt Institute is featuring a Global Development Lab project that is installing solar panels for Tintinto Primary & Secondary School, a school in a remote village in West Africa. The beginning of this pilot proved to be successful and we will be continuing the development of this project. Principal Amadou Kinteh, teachers, parents, and students are pleased with having access to clean energy and are excited to see the completion of this project with the final section of the school illuminated by Summer 2021!

During COVID-19, school administrators reported that having access to electricity created the opportunity for teachers and students to work remotely by having access to charge their cell phones in rotations at the school during the pandemic lockdown. When the schools were able to re-open, the teachers hosted additional tutoring times for students after school to help bridge any gaps that occurred during their absence due to the pandemic. As a result, Principle Kinteh reported that his students excelled in their exams (equivalent to state exams in the USA). Watch him talk about their experiences in the above video.

Mohammed Njie is an SMU student and Hunt Institute Social Entrepreneur who founded Janta Energy to provide sustainable, clean, and reliable energy to The Gambia, a West African country where just 48% of people have limited access to electricity, leaving the remaining 52% with no access. Recently, he published a website for this initiative called JantaGM.com.

In December of 2019, the Tintinto Primary and Secondary School agreed to be a beta test site for Janta’s pilot project. In January of 2020, a team installed five 330-watt 24-volt solar panels, two 250-amp 12-volt solar batteries, and a 50-amp solar charge controller to power four classrooms and a staff room. The pilot was designed to test the panel’s effectiveness as a solution to bring electrical connections for lights, fans, and eventually computers. Although the entire school is not yet powered, Njie has a vision: “As a pilot project, we were limited to installing a [certain] amount of panels. We used those panels to provide 100% energy for half of the school. The idea was that after we did a successful pilot project, then we will install more panels to extend the power to the other side of the school.”

Join us as we prepare to finish installing the necessary panels to complete this project for the Tintinto Primary and Secondary School so that all teachers and students will have access to electricity in their classrooms.

Eventually, Janta will use this concept to build a micro-grid, with the school at the center, to help power the entire village. Looking ahead to the future, Janta Energy seeks to replicate the model used in Tintinto across other rural villages as well, eventually spanning the entirety of the country. You can help make a difference in the lives of Gambians by contributing to the Hunt Institute’s project for SMU Giving Day to finish this pilot project. All proceeds will go toward this project in The Gambia.

April 13, 2021 all day giving day #SMUDayOne resulted in meeting our goal.

Check back for updates as this project progresses!

The Hunt Institute and everyone in the Tintinto Primary & Secondary School appreciates your support for this Global Development Lab project.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

November 10, 2020August 31, 2021

STEM Up Phase 1: Empowering Engineering for Rural STEM Access

The video above is from SMU’s Giving Day in 2019 when the Hunt Institute’s project focused on the idea of bringing STEM education resources to rural communities. With motivation from personal experience, Cydney Snyder researched the potential of developing STEM camps in rural areas.

STEM Up Phase I: Empowering Engineering for Rural STEM Access focused on place-based education, specifically targeting rural schools that do not have the same support for STEM initiatives as many urban schools do.

The result of Ms. Snyder’s work was a report titled STEM UP: STEM for Rural Communities that proposed the use of place-based education to teach students about STEM in a summer camp setting. In the summer of 2019, STEM Up took on a different shape. After attempts to connect with camps in rural communities, the problem became clear – a growing number of rural areas did not have the resources to support summer camps.

With this revelation, the Institute partnered with the Caruth Center for Engineering Education to implement a STEM Up project, Evie-in-a-Box, with Caruth’s summer campers to test the interest level of the students. It was a huge success. The Institute made an open-sourced how-to video with a PDF containing instructions and dimensions for the project. All supplies are available at a typical hardware store or through Amazon.

In the summer of 2020, due to the global pandemic, summer camps were held virtually. As a result, the Caruth Center used the kits for remote camps, testing the true capabilities of the kits. Similar to the previous year, campers reported the kits being one of their favorite activities.

Snyder said, “Once when jokingly describing how I could see cows grazing outside the window of my US History class, a peer asked me, ‘if you came from a place like that, why are you normal?’ This project is important because millions of students grow up in rural communities and believe that their community is not good enough.”

Snyder’s concluding remarks in her paper sum up the spirit of Phase 1, “In development, growth is seen as an indicator of progress which leads to a lack of understanding of places that choose and rejoice in staying small. When students have to leave their communities in order to find more educational opportunities, they are not taught about subjects that relate to their experiences and their communities. Furthermore, when students leave their communities, they quickly find that people think of small rural communities as lesser. As a result, these students learn to reject small-town values and traditions, deny the good parts of their upbringing, and repress those aspects of their background that make them feel [like the] “other.” This camp, and in general the movement of place-based education, can provide students with a new narrative of what it means to be from rural areas while also giving them the opportunity to have a more well-rounded and adequate STEM education.”

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