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Newsletter: June 2008The Human Side of Technology I recently served as one of 24 judges at the EPA P3 competition in Washington, D.C. It is held as an annual event and this year there were entries and demonstration projects from 58 Universities working to solve problems in both local communities and remote villages in foreign countries. The P3 competition, (People, Prosperity and Planet) was developed by EPA to enable college and university students from across the U.S. to design scientific, technical and policy solutions to sustainability challenges. Since this topic affects all of us, I felt it would be of interest to see where the key areas for development exist and which are of the highest importance to EPA. The intent of the competition is to develop technologies that address the three criteria for the competition defined by the Environmental Protection Agency's P3 program:
The six awardees were: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Sustainable water development program for rural Nigeria. University of California - Berkley - Electrochemical arsenic remediation in rural Bangladesh. University of Iowa - Innovative diesel production: A solution to scientific, technical and educational challenges of sustainability. University of California - Davis - Production of natural plastics from wastewater treatment. Drexel University - A novel reactor design for efficient production of biodiesel from high free-fatty-acid oils. The winners each received a $75,000 grant from EPA to continue development through the final prototype stage and field testing. The awards were presented at the National Academt of Science, following three days of evaluation, interviews and group discussions on the positive and negative aspects of each technology under development. I have taken one project, the point-of-use chlorine generator, and examined why it is so very important to have an inexpensive means of potable drinking water. How do you put a value on the potential success of the above? One way is to take a look at the grim statistics. Most locations with the worst problems are remote areas lacking oversight for accuracy which is why the numbers commonly used are estimates. Two to four million people world-wide die each year from waterborne illnesses. Of that number 85% are children. However, there is a direct correlation to diseases and death in any given country and the percentage of population that have adequate sanitation. Further, there is a less specific but important statistic that links the probability of not reaching age 40, which assumes you survived your childhood years. However, digging deeper into statistics presents a more complex picture. An example is Mongolia with only 2% of the population using adequate sanitation while the general population has a 97.8% literacy rate!
Developing the technology for practical applications and useability is not the end of the project but in many ways is only the beginning. There are simply no private investment funds or venture capital to back technology to satisfy rudimentary functions. Although the markets and needs are great, there is little or no financial gain to be had. Where does money come from to implement some of these items?
There are many other organizations that help. However, according to the International Finance Corporation (the World Bank's private arm) only one half of projects implemented actually succeed. There are many reasons but the most common are personal greed of dictators or rulers of third world countries and political favors or, in some cases, retaliation. Our Universities are doing their part and going the extra mile to be creative and find solutions to difficult problems. Now it's time to put aside rivalries as well as greed and get the job done. We're doing our part, now the rest of the world needs to take action. Technology Resource of the Southeast, Inc. is an objective, third party regional service provider. We specialize in assessment, analysis and valuation of new products and emerging technologies. Call us anytime for assistance or free consultation. (423) 929-0380 Previous Newsletters: |
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