in the world archive

An a-maize-ing path out of poverty - Jodie Wu, an MIT senior in mechanical engineering, spent the summer traveling around Tanzania to introduce a new system for processing corn: A simple attachment for a bicycle that makes it possible to remove the kernels quickly and efficiently. October 1, 2008

MIT students help cities plan for changing climate - Ten graduate students from MIT recently spent three weeks in Durban, South Africa, working on a project to develop an online tool that could help municipal governments around the world adapt to a changing climate. July 22, 2008

Simple insulation could combat heat, cold and noise - Around the world, an estimated one billion people--mostly in rural villages and the shanty towns surrounding developing-world cities--live in houses whose roofs are nothing more than thin sheets of corrugated metal. July 1, 2008

Student project innovates solar cooker in Tibet - When two students visited Tibet two years ago, they kept hearing from villagers that a solar cooker that was both lightweight and strong would make a big difference to their lives. So a team of students from MIT and Tibet ended up producing exactly that. June 4, 2008

On a roll: Students bring mobility to remote areas - MIT students in this year's 'Wheelchair Design in Developing Countries' class split into five teams and each came up with new variations on how to help bring mobility to people whose lives could be dramatically changed by it. May 21, 2008

Art + technology = clean water in Ecuador - MIT student Kendra Johnson found that to improve water quality in a rural Ecuadorian village, she needed to consider economic issues in addition to technology, and so ended up devising an innovative way of using local arts to pay for the project. May 14, 2008

Lightman lights up future for Cambodians - Alan Lightman, MIT physicist and writer, and his wife, Jeanne, made a pact a decade or so ago to turn their energies toward humanitarian pursuits. The latest of their efforts is a dream come true for residents of a small Cambodian village -- a new mosque. May 7, 2008

An earthquake's aftermath - Students and faculty from MIT's CityScope class visited a small Peruvian town over spring break to learn about the earthquake-stricken city's needs and how they might help restore water supplies, health-care and a sense of community. April 30, 2008

A blueprint for no carbon footprint - Abu Dhabi is taking the long view, planning for a future beyond oil. The most dramatic piece of the emirate's plans is its creation of a whole new city from scratch, centered on an institute of technology modeled after, and created in collaboration with, MIT. April 16, 2008

What is good water worth? - MIT Senior Lecturer Susan Murcott started a nonprofit enterprise in 2005 to sell a simple, low-cost ceramic water filter system to residents of northern Ghana, home to the country's most contaminated water supplies. April 8, 2008

Bringing a bit of MIT to Africa - Armed with a grant from the MIT Public Service Center, sophomore Edison Achelengwa returned to his home country of Cameroon during January to work on installing MIT's OpenCourseWare on computers in two of the country's universities. March 19, 2008

Student work improves amputees' prosthetics - A team of MIT students has been working on a new device that could greatly simplify the process of fitting artificial legs in India, producing a better fit while eliminating some steps in the process and reducing waste materials. March 5, 2008

Shedding a bright light on village needs - Two MIT graduate students have led an effort to supply hot water to a girl's high school dorm in Lesotho through the design of a concentrating solar array. Another nearby village features the students' solar heater, located near the community's well. February 27, 2008

Saving the rainforest with … toys? - Some villagers in Honduran communities who used to take part in the illegal trade in mahogany have turned to sustainable wood harvesting. But they need more markets. And that's where MIT Sloan School master's student Craig Doescher comes in. February 13, 2008

Smart pillbox could be a lifesaver - An MIT student and team of collaborators think may have found a high-tech solution in a low-tech package to the problem of ensuring that patients take their tuberculosis medication. Their simple but 'smart' pillbox could save lives throughout the world. February 6, 2008

Pumping up desert agriculture - Thanks to a new venture set up by two MIT students, subsistence farmers on the edge of the Sahara desert in Sudan will soon get a chance to improve their crops and their livelihoods using inexpensive treadle-powered water pumps. January 23, 2008