This class is a cross between a study abroad and an internship. Human Centered Design focuses on the idea of designing around a certain customer, or otherwise referred to as a co-designer, for a design. This class focuses on the idea of sustainable technologies. The class was partnered with an NGO named Emerging Opportunities for Sustainability located in San Isidro, Nicaragua.

 

The class consisted of 10 students and was broken down into 3 different groups for the projects so each team had 3-4 people to complete their task. We met once a week in the spring semester of 2017 as a preparation time for the class and what it all entails. Following the end of class for the summer, we returned to campus 2 weeks prior to departure for fast prototyping and final designs for our projects. After those 2 weeks, we traveled down to Nicaragua for 30 days to implement our designs and introduce new, sustainable technology to the Nicaraguan people. Each student was paired up and stayed with a host family for the whole time we were down there. Every Monday-Thursday was spent working with the NGO and its technicians as well as our co-designers. Every Friday-Sunday was spent traveling around the country and getting to experience all of the different cultures that Nicaragua has to offer.

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My project was a sustainable fuel source and a biomass cook stove. We were informed that Nicaragua was having troubles with deforestation which has lead to a sudden increase in the price of wood. This price increase is starting to become a burden to families since wood is the main source of heat for cooking and other various needs for most families. Rice is a main crop in Nicaragua so taking this into consideration, we decided to use rice husk as our main ingredient for this new fuel source. After a lot of trial and error, we finally came up with a mixture that worked and essentially turned the rice husk into a log that was quite comparable in appearance as well as performance to a wood log. As far as the stove goes, my team and I went around the community that we lived and worked in and interviewed women who cook for a living and sell their food in order to get some information on the features that this stove should possess. The team and I ended up coming across a woman who gave us very insightful information and so decided to name her our co-designer. Our final stove was around $50 and was mobile and consisted a ventilation system in order to help decrease health issues related to smoke intake. Along with each design, the team and I utilized many design tools such as a DFMEA, House of Quality, and functional analysis as well as business and revenue models for a developing country. The trip rounded out with each team presenting to the company and our professor, in Spanish, with what we had designed and all of our recommendations and information for moving forward. More details and information about the project are included in the report attached in this page. 

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