Design Presentations for IDDS

Several of the participants of this international conference at MIT have come to the Fab Lab for assistance in fabricating parts of their designs.  Their work is very interesting, and the presentations would be worth checking out.

Please join us on Wednesday, August 6, from 4-6pm in the Bartos Theater and
the lower-level of the Media Lab for the final celebration of the
International Development Design Summit (IDDS) at MIT.
(Bartos is located here: http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?mapterms=e15)

The summit has brought more than fifty participants from over
twenty countries to MIT to spend a month learning about design and creating
technologies to improve the lives of people in the developing world.  The
participants will present their projects in Bartos Theater from 4 – 5  and
then display their prototypes at the reception that follows. This year’s
projects include:

a device for decreasing the transmission rate of HIV/AIDS from mothers to
their babies
a charcoal crushing machine to help make charcoal briquettes from carbonized
corn cobs
a rope way system to help craftswomen in the Himalayas get their products to
market
a pearl millet thresher
an incubator for low birth weight babies in the developing world
a super low-cost computer for educational programs
an interlocking stabilized soil block maker
a pico-hydro electric generator
a hand-held tool for isolating DNA for improving diagnostic capability
a device for generating electricity from a treadle pump

Please spread the word about this final event and feel free to invite
friends and colleagues whom you think would enjoy the gathering!

IDDS is hosted by MIT, Olin College and Cooper-Perkins, and is sponsored by
the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Collegiate Inventors and
Innovators Alliance.  The Final Celebration is located in Building E15 and
is sponsored by the MIT Public Service Center — http://web.mit.edu/mitpsc/

Hope to see you there!

IDDS website- Link

D-Lab website – Link

Amy Smith is in charge of D-Lab – Link

This is a good video of one of her presentations – Link

Innovation from the South Shore

photo of Back Bay filled in during the 1880’s using Otis Steam Shovels, invented in Canton Ma

In the July 3 Globe South section of the Boston Globe is an article about some of the important innovations that have happened just South of Boston.

Some highlights:

1927, Dr. William Hinton, son of former slaves, developed a test for syphilus, one of the most challenging diseases of his time. Dr. Hinton became the first black professor at Harvard Medical School and was a pioneer in preventative medicine.

1836, William Otis of Canton invented the steam shovel, Otis steam shovels were used to fill in the Back Bay. Before his invention, construction workers did not have easy access to the powerful leverage of pneumatic and hydraulic energy systems in their tools.

1890’s, King Gillette The founder of the Gillette corporation came up with the idea for the disposable razor while vacationing in Hull.

1906, Reginald Fessenden developed the first system to transmit voice and music over radio waves. His broadcast of Christmas Eve that year was heard by ships’ radio operators all across the Atlantic. Before that time, they had only communicated via morse code, a language of short and long beeps.

1937, Ruth Wakefield, through experimentation and making do with different materials invented the chocolate chip cookie at the Tollhouse Inn in Whitman.

More Information:

Here is a link to the article: Link

The Boston History and Innovation Collaborative: Link

School for Champions Biography of King Gillette: Link

Boston Breakthroughs: Link

Steam Shovel information: Link

A bio of Dr. Hinton: Link

William Otis on Wikipedia – The polish version has more information (go figure): Link

Back Bay history – Link