D-lab Honduras Team Leader

Marta Fernandez-Suarez, martafs@mit.edu
Elizabeth Basha, e_basha@mit.edu

Past Projects (D-lab 2003-2004)

Inexpensive Water Testing:
By building upon an invention by Instructor Amy Smith, students taking last year's D-lab class brought a technology for cheaply test drinking water in developing countries significantly closer to a finished, workable product. Instead of costing around US$1000, as most water testing apparata do, the water testing system designed in D-lab costs less than US$20. The D-lab Honduras team took prototypes of the water testing system to sites around Honduras, and preliminary data have shown that indeed the new, cheaper water testing system works in the field. The team which advanced the cheap water testing system won one of the top prizes in the most recent IDEAS competition.

Water Chlorination Controllers:
Using spare parts from a flush toilet, the D-lab Honduras team solved a problem of overchlorination in a community's water supply. The toilet apparatus served as a feedback mechanism for the chlorinating tank, thus simply solving the problem. Perhaps most importantly of all, this fix used locally available materials and locally available skills.

A related invention, which also won one of the top prizes in this year's IDEAS competition, solved a problem of misdosed chlorination, this time caused by changing water flow rates, by taking advantage of the venturi effect (The venturi effect is the basis of the workings of carburetors in cars as well). Their invention was simple to construct and used locally available skills and materials, which will likely contribute to its continued success in Honduras.

Early Warning System (SAT)
Flooding, especially due to hurricanes, destroys many communities in Honduras and, without adequate warning, many lives are lost. Last year's D-lab students examined ways to provide an adequate warning through an automated system that measures the river level far upstream, determines if flooding is occurring, and sounds an alarm at the communities. They visited community sites, met with government officials and investigated current systems within Honduras. With this information, they designed a system and continued the project as an IDEAS winner as well as a PSC Fellowship.

Regional Partners

Centro Technico del San Alonso Rodriguez

Related Links

CIA World Factbook, Honduras:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ho.html

For more information on how to fix a problem of overchlorination using wit, engineering, and a toilet, go to the "Down and Dirty Tech of the Day" section of the Design for Developing Countries site:
http://web.mit.edu/d-lab/portfolio/

The CDC website with recommendations for travellers to Honduras:
http://www.cdc.gov/travel/camerica.htm

The US Dept. of State travel site with advice and information for travellers to Honduras:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/honduras.html