Public Service Grantees

The Americas

Elizabeth Basha (G Course 6), Brian Julian (G Course 6), and Andrea Llenos (G Course 12) worked with Fundacion San Alonso Rodriguez to install a flood early warning system in Honduras that measures local water level, predicts the river level 24-hours in advance, and communicates this prediction to the communities, government authorities, and local NGOs.

Manvi Goel (‘10 Course 14) and Sarina Siddhanti (‘10 Course 14) worked with the MicroLoan Foundation to develop a micro-equity model that allows investors to be matched with entrepreneurs in Mexico.

Kendra Leith (G Course 11) interviewed laborers about successful job creation and workforce development in Saltillo, Mexico to gain a greater understanding of successful employment models in developing countries.

Folkers Rojas distributed computers to El Real De La Cruz, Nicaragua. He planned to promote computer literacy in this small town by teaching local children to use, fix, and maintain the computers.

Asia

Manjula Amerasinghe (G Course 11) investigated the sustainability of community-managed rural water supply and sanitation schemes in Sri Lanka by interviewing local participants.

Yang Jiang (G Course 11) developed an urban planning decision making tool to forecast energy consumption impacts of large-scale urban development projects in Jinan, China.

Sean Liu (‘10 Course 6) worked on a development initiative to bring a new Internet access mesh technology to Fuzhou, China and ultimately extend their wireless coverage across the city.

Africa

Hrishikesh Ballal (G Course 15) presented policy recommendations to the Ministry of Local Government on an e-waste handling system in Mauritius.

For more information on these Grantees, contact Sally Susnowitz, Director, MIT Public Service Center

Posted on December 30, 2008