Panel: Appropriate Technology
for Developing Countries
“Personal AT Journey”
CEEC 2004
Salt Lake City, UT
Matthew G. Green
Manufacturing & Design Lab
Mechanical Systems and Design
The University of Texas, Austin
matthew.green@alumni.utexas.net
June 24, 2004
AT Journey Chronology
1.
2.
3.
4.
Before graduate school
Graduate School – MS
Graduate School – PhD
(Future) Career Path:
Teaching, Consulting, Publishing
AT Journey Chronology
1.
2.
3.
4.
Before graduate school
Graduate School – MS
Graduate School – PhD
(Future) Career Path:
Teaching, Consulting, Publishing
Phase I: Before Graduate School
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
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Childhood - Exposure to global context through
visiting missionaries
3rd year student, Guatemala service project –
First personal exposure to global need
(still no concept of proportion of need)
Senior year - Growing sense of stewardship of
education, gifting, and Western resources
coupled with growing disillusionment with the
pursuit of personal comfort
Phase I: Before Graduate School



Senior design – spaceship to mars, crisis of
values. “Wouldn’t design for the poor result in
`spin-offs` too, along with having a much
greater impact on quality of life?”
Internship with EMI – growing understanding of
global need
EMI trip to PNG Wycliffe base - first realization
of technical opportunities
I was active in my Christian faith and missions-oriented
with a BSME, yet this my first realization of the
opportunity for engineers to help with these needs.
Phase I: Before Graduate School
Discouragement
 Abandoned hope of graduate research in


“appropriate technology”
I was told, “Graduate research is high-tech;
development needs are low-tech.”
(Now I understand why – for years it was a
difficult and lonely trail to blaze!)
AT Journey Chronology
1.
2.
3.
4.
Before graduate school
Graduate School – MS
Graduate School – PhD
(Future) Career Path:
Teaching, Consulting, Publishing
MS: “Blazing the trail”
 Research advisor encouraged pursuing
the lost vision as “design for developing
countries”
 Major hurdle: uncovering the literature
base (mostly non-academic)
 Preliminary findings reported in paper
“Publishing Engineering Research on
Appropriate Technology”
MS: Internship w/ Development
 GTZ-GATE – German technical inquiry
service
 General consensus - disillusionment with
global poverty reduction initiatives
 Advice: “Avoid a career in development
at all costs”
 Co-authored three papers: solar
desalination, theory of solar crop drying,
solar drying equipment.
MS: Humanitarian Design Projects
 Senior design methods class
 Ex: Waste heat water heater
“Integrating Service-Oriented Design Projects
in the Engineering Curriculum,” ASEE 2002
MS: Humanitarian Design Projects
 Senior design methods class
 Example: Hot Water for Medical Relief

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Need in rural Mexico
Strict size, cost, complexity constraints
Waste heat from 5kW generator
Result: $50  5gal/hr @ 150oF
Field-testing in Mexico
MS: Research – Remote Electricity
“Small-Scale Electricity Generation: Selecting an
Appropriate Technology,” MS Thesis, UT Austin, 2001
Viable Small-scale Technologies
Solar Photovoltaic
Water Current
Wind Turbine
Micro-Hydroelectric
IC Engine Generator
Grid Extension (reference)
Existing Selection Guidance
Need: Comprehensive and unified selection method
AT Journey Chronology
1.
2.
3.
4.
Before graduate school
Graduate School – MS
Graduate School – PhD
(Future) Career Path:
Teaching, Consulting, Publishing
PhD – IH Design Projects
 International Humanitarian Design
projects (presented in ASEE & CEEC)
 Effectively introduced and mentored me
into these projects from Christian schools
“Service-Learning Approaches to International
Humanitarian Design Projects: A Model Based on
Experiences of Faith-Based Institutions,” ASEE 2004
“Service-Learning Approaches to International Humanitarian
Design Projects: Assessment of Spiritual Impact,”
CEEC 2004
PhD: Research Focus
Provide tools to enhance the success of
engineers designing products for contexts
outside their experience and expertise.


Focus on product definition phase
Develop three types of design tools:
1. Knowledge modules
2. Ashby-style plots
3. DfX method (Design by Analogy)
Objective #1: Reverse Engineering
1. Reverse engineer products in multiple functional
families to document the product definitions and
appropriate usage contexts.
Select products representative of a functional family
 Primary function is a basic need
 Set of products successful in mature market
 Dominated by ME energy flows
Product set for FF “broadcast light, with mobility”
AT Journey Chronology
1.
2.
3.
4.
Before graduate school
Graduate School – MS
Graduate School – PhD
(Future) Career Path:
Teaching, Consulting, Publishing
(Future) Career Path
Engineering design to improve the quality of
life for the poor in developing countries
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
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Teaching – training engineers to design
products and systems, with an emphasis on
meeting the needs of the world’s poorest
individuals
Consulting – designing specific solutions for
the needs of development workers and those
they serve
Publishing – providing technical knowledge
useful and accessible to development workers
Questions
 How can students be trained to design
for AT needs?
 How can students pursue AT projects?
 How can graduate students pursue AT
related research?
 What types of engineering careers are
available in AT?
What will enable success in a field
where so many others have failed?