EDSGN 497I - Morocco Project
Overview
Morocco is located in Northern Africa, with the North Atlantic Ocean to the west and the
Mediterranean Sea to the north, Algeria to the east and the Western Sahara to the south
(https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mo.html#Intro).
The United States has had a long partnership with the people of Morocco. “During the American
Revolution, so many American ships called at the port of Tangiers that the Continental Congress
sought recognition from the "Emperor" of Morocco. This was accorded, in effect, in 1777,
making Morocco the first country to recognize the fledging American republic. Negotiation of a
formal treaty began in 1783, and resulted in the signing in 1786 of the Moroccan-American
Treaty of Friendship. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both future U.S. Presidents, were the
American signatories. During the American Civil War, Morocco reaffirmed its diplomatic
alliance with the United States by assuring Washington that the Kingdom, “being a sincere friend
of the American nation, would never air or give countenance to the [Confederate] insurgents.”
http://www.moroccanamericantrade.com/relations.cfm
Dr. Schuhmann visited Morocco this summer and learned from Shelly Browning, who has been
working in Morocco with USAID on a Medicinal and Aromatic Plant project, of a rosemary
cooperative in Jerada (northeast Morocco) that was interested in a partnership with students from
Penn State. The cooperative harvests wild rosemary and extracts the essential oil to see n the
global market. They were recently allocated an additional 40,000 hectares by the Moroccan
government and have purchased a new extraction still.
The team will connect with Mr. Abubakr (Abu) to discuss the needs of the “clients” in Jerada
with respect to this project. Several immediate areas of investigation that may be appropriate for
the team to consider are:
1. What is the opportunity for increased production potential from the 40K hectares just
allocated to the clients by the government?
a. Catalog past production based upon former land area and distillation efficiency.
b. Scale up to project the future production potential from the new expanded land
area and new Vertegris still efficiency.
2. What possible existing or future threat(s) might exist with respect to organic
certification?
a. The Jerada coal fired power plant has been operating in the region since 1971
(http://www.industcards.com/st-coal-africa.htm). Coal plants have the potential to
emit heavy metals and radio nuclides from their stacks as a result of the coal
combustion process. These metals etc. may be transported down wind and result
in fallout and soil contamination which may adversely affect the organic
certification process.
b. Look at the Jerada coal chemistry, obtain meteorological data for the region, and
perform a simple Gaussian downwind dispersion analysis to estimate transport
and deposition of contaminants.
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3. What is the best strategic value proposition for production/marketing of Jerada rosemary
oil and what is the nature of the current and potential global market?
a. Perform an analysis of the current demand for various grades of rosemary oil in
the global marketplace and project future demand.
b. Based upon the identified demand(s), offer suggestions regarding the nature and
volume of the end product that is produced by the clients.
Client (“Jerada”) Requirements
1. Jerada will provide as a point of contact in Morocco a representative (e.g. Mr. Abubakr) who
will provide a statement of the problem and the expectations of Jerada for the team of
students at Penn State. A secondary point of contact (e.g. Shelly Browning:
shellybrowning@hotmail.com, Oren, Patrick) is desirable to ensure an uninterrupted flow
of communication.
2. Jerada will provide all supporting information that they can with respect to the problem to
be studied. This includes technical specifications and data with respect to the processes to be
examined and redesigned.
3. Jerada will provide at least rudimentary data on the economics of the current design. This
might include stating the market value of the products, or the cost per day of harvesting
labor etc. The students need to understand the economic significance and constraints when
they are assessing the business.
4. Jerada will establish rules for the confidentiality of any information that they release.
5. Jerada will establish rules for any intellectual property that may be developed by the students
and faculty in the project team.
6. Jerada will agree to respond to questions for more information from the project team. It is
understood that it will not always be possible for Jerada to answer the questions, but this will
help students understand the limits to knowledge and information in decision making.
7. If it is possible at least one virtual meeting (e.g. Skype) will be established between the
representative of Jerada and the students. The best times for this are at the beginning of the
project and at the early and final design reviews
8. Jerada will agree to carry out an Early Design Review to ensure the students have developed
the problem correctly and are proceeding appropriately
9. Jerada will agree to carry out a Final Project Review so that students can get the client’s
assessment of their work.
Subcontractor Requirements (Student Faculty Team)
1. The subcontractor will provide a list of the team members of the project (and contact
information) to Jerada
2. The subcontractor will discuss the expectations and design requirements with Jerada to
ensure that both parties are satisfied and have a shared understanding before beginning the
project
3. The subcontractor will only communicate with Jerada through the designated
representative(s)
4. The subcontractor will establish a time line for the project
5. The subcontractor will establish a protected on-line site for the which will include the
project requirement statement from Jerada, the timeline, the team structure, and the design
process that is being followed as well as all critical documents, ideas, and drawings as they
are developed.
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6. The subcontractor will provide a secure site for the materials and documents that relate to
the project. This will probably be on the Angel system at Penn State which is password
protected. The Jerada point of contact can be given full access to the project site on Angel
by establishing an account at Penn State through https://fps.psu.edu/ . The ID(s) will then
be sent to Professor Richard Schuhmann rxs34@psu.edu who will add them to the project
site in Angel https://cms.psu.edu .
7. The subcontractor will, using signed student statements, agree to respect confidentiality
requests and the intellectual property of Jerada if desired.
8. Within the limits imposed by confidentiality and intellectual property agreements, and the
constraints of time, the subcontractor will use the resources at Penn State University to
develop the best result for the project, such as seeking the help of faculty and other
researchers who are expert in the subjects being studied.
9. Although not the usual practice, the subcontractor agrees to consider to a request to
continue the project if Jerada desires further work by the team. Or, a new team might be
created who will continue the work.
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