"...the inventors who most inspire her will never strike it rich. 'There are geniuses in Africa, but they're not getting the press,' she says. She gushes about Mohammed Bah Abba, a Nigerian teacher who came up with the pot-within-a-pot system. With nothing more than a big terra-cotta bowl, a little pot, some sand and water, Abba created a refrigerator -- the rig uses evaporation rather than electricity to keep vegetables cool. Innovations that target the poorest of the poor don't have to be complicated to make a big difference. The best solution is sometimes the most obvious."

Full article available here, published Nov. 30, 2003

Former D-Lab Student Matthew Zedler Writes Article in MIT Tech

"Turning Attention to the Real Third World:
Last month, Hurricane Katrina sent the city of New Orleans staggering backward to the extent that many deemed it at a “third-world level” of development. Estimates now suggest that approximately 700 people died because of the catastrophe, riots and looting were widespread, and economic shocks rippled throughout the world thanks to the destruction of oil and gas refineries.

At the time, I was in Lesotho, a “third-world” country in south Africa. This landlocked country, about the size of Maryland, is home to over two million Basotho, one of the most ethnically homogenous populations on the planet today. The country itself is beautiful, with majestic mountains, brilliant blue skies, and some of the most amicable people I have ever met... "

Full article available here, published October 18, 2005

D-Lab Instructor Kurt "Lorenzo" Kornbluth in UC Davis News

"Not one to let moss grow under his feet, Kornbluth this summer is leading MIT, Harvard, and University of Zambia students on development projects in Zambia, Botswana, and Lesotho. This fall, he’ll travel with students to Guatemala to work with an organization called Maya Pedal. Maya Pedal helps communities build low-cost devices such as blenders, washing machines, grain mills, water pumps, roof-tile makers, macadamia nut-hullers, and generators that are people-powered using bicycle parts."

Full article available here, published July 2005

"The key is affordable design, Polak says. 'Ninety percent of the people who design things work on the problems of the world's richest 5%,' he says. 'There is a huge need to design things that will create a market for the poorest 4 billion people.'"

Full article available here, published June 20, 2005

Amy Smith and Gerthy Lahens join forces in trip to Haiti - Boston Globe

" 'This is not a handout,' said Lahens. 'I'm fed up with charity and how it keeps people where they are. No. This is about giving the people of Haiti a chance to help themselves. We're not giving them charcoal. We plan to teach them how to make it in a way that doesn't destroy their environment. This is about self-sufficiency. This is about hope.' "

Full article available here, published June 5, 2005

Students take D-Lab design to tackle flooding in Honduras - MIT Press

"Eight MIT students--five graduate students and three undergraduates--spent spring break 2005 in Tocoa, Honduras, working on an automated flood early warning system and visiting towns that had been badly damaged by flash flooding in the wake of Hurricane Mitch in October 1998. "

Full article available here, published April 25, 2005

Amy Smith interviewed on NPR's The Connection

"Beyond making life easier for the world's poor, Smith also wants to change what it means to be an inventor. In a world obsessed with gizmos costing hundreds of dollars, Smith wants instead to focus minds and imaginations on simple solutions for big problems."

Full Broadcast Online here (external link), originally aired on October 11, 2004

Amy Smith honored with 2004 MacArthur Fellowship

"As a mechanical engineer, she creates life-enhancing solutions and labor-saving technologies for people at the far end of dirt roads in the world's most remote societies, people facing crises that erupt in health clinics with no electricity and in villages with no clean water."

MacArthur Profile available here