Class
From ESWStanford
Contents |
Announcements
Papers for May 27th:
Ascaris Paper: Goodman et al
Discussion Questions:
1. Is there a place for a fecal-oriented method like the Kato-Katz technique
in the sampling of soils or composts for Ascaris lumbricoides or helminthes?
Description of Kato-Katz technique
2. For the example of testing composts for helminthes eggs, could assumptions about the compost be generated by testing fecal matter that is inputted to the compost?
3. Where should the science of Ascaris detection focus, on detecting infected individuals or on monitoring crop applied soils and composts?
Check out the fully updated course schedule, and update yourself on the project schedule and due dates for the rest of the quarter
Project Description
Challenges arise daily while working in rural, remote locations of the world. Supplies of clean water and electricity may be inconsistent or nonexistent. Water quality testing critical to determining the effectiveness of sanitary interventions becomes a daunting task under such conditions. Many sophisticated techniques used in conventional laboratories become too expensive, too impractical, or too difficult to use in developing nations. This quarter we conduct a survey of existing technologies that are designed for remote, inaccessible locations. Questions explored will range from: What technologies and products are currently available for conducting sanitation and water quality testing? What are the benefits and drawbacks of current solutions? How may cultural differences impact microbiological research projects and data collection? What are other issues one may need to address?
Participants
Teaching
Course Instructor Molly Morse
Molly is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and did her undergraduate work at Cornell University majoring in Civil Engineering with a focus on Structural Engineering. She completed her MS at Stanford University in Design Construction Integration (DCI) where she became interested in environmentally friendly building materials. Currently, she is researching the anaerobic degradation of biocomposites for the building industry.
Molly has been involved with ESW for quite a while (since winter of 2004) and has helped out on many projects and classes.
Laboratory Coordinator Eric Sundstrom
A North Carolina resident, Eric completed his undergraduate work in Civil Engineering, as well as his Masters of Environmental Engineering at Rice University. He is currently working on his PhD in the Environmental Engineering Sciences program here at Stanford, where he focuses on environmental microbiology and biotechnology. He is currently investigating the role of bacterial nanowires in subsurface electron transfer. As an avid skier and hiker, Eric prefers to spend his free time in the mountains (or at least thinking about them).
Students
Joseph Arredondo
Joseph hails from Livingston, Ca. He is a Junior majoring in Chemistry with a focus in Biochemistry. He is an RA in an All-Frosh Dorm. He plans to go into medicine. This class interested him because he spent last summer in Bhopal, India working on detecting water contamination caused by the Industrial Disaster that happened there. He is currently taking the lab course CEE 199 to supplement this class.
Kevin Bingley, P.E.
Originally from Virginia, Kevin Bingley received a B.S in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Virginia Tech with a concentration in Public Health Engineering. Currently a graduate student in Stanford’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Program, he arrived at Stanford with over seven years of domestic and international experience in public health engineering, including work in Kyrgyzstan, the American west, and as Peace Corps Panama’s National Technical Advisor for the Environmental Health Program. His field of expertise is with technologies, training, and community development techniques aimed at sustainable water and sanitation development in Central America.
Joseph Burg
A resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, Joseph is a sophomore majoring in Civil Engineering with a minor in Mechanical Design. He is interested water usage, particularly in situations where clean water is scarce, either because of aridity or contamination, as well as cradle to cradle economics. He believes that engineering is a way to create not only a more sustainable world, but also a more just world. In the future Joseph wishes to use his skills to design products that help reduce poverty, increase health, and sustainably use resources. This class will allow him to understand what products already exist to deal with water quality issues and the design constraints that surround these technologies.
Andrew Deagon
Originally from Palmdale, Ca, Andrew is a third year undergraduate majoring in Biomechanical Engineering. He is very interested in the medical device industry and most recently has become interested in it's applications in bettering third world medical care. However, as of early 2008, his experience traveling or working in rural areas is limited only to stories from peers and articles. CEE 177S will be his first step towards getting involved in Engineers for a Sustainable World.
Isaías Espinoza
Originally from Paraguay, Isaías is now a sophomore majoring in Civil Engineering. He is interested in the direct link between water sanitation and disease control. Isaías wishes to later use the knowledge he will gain as an engineer to battle alongside impoverished communities in the developing world against large-scale public health problems. He is excited about taking a course that is dedicated to a specific interaction between technology and social responsibility. He also hopes that CEE 177S will introduce him to ingenious ideas that could provide foundations for future solutions.
Theo Gibbs
A freshman at Stanford this year, Theo has not finalized on a major, but is leaning towards Anthropological Science as a major and Environmental Engineering as a minor. Whatever field she ends up in, her primary interest is in sustainable development and environmental conservation, and international travel. Right now, she is particularly interested in urban design and planning, and how cities can be reshaped to serve both the human inhabitants and the natural environment better, though elements like mixed-use planning, public transportation, and green buildings. Closely related to that is the issue of how cities utilize natural resources, and since Theo is an Arizona native, water usage is a crucial concern for her. She is excited to get involved with ESW, and learn new skills and information to apply in a useful and tangible way, especially in terms of water sanitation—an international health issue that affects billions of people. Aside from school and environmental work, Theo’s favorite activities include riding horses out at the Red Barn, gardening in the Stanford Community Gardens, and playing the saxophone while wearing fabulous costumes in the Stanford Band.
Assignments
Bio on wiki - Please tell us (and the public) about yourself ideally in 100-200 words.
Due: 6pm on Tuesday, April 8
Project Description Proposal - Prepare an approximately one page document summarizing your proposed research topic. The following areas should be covered: significance of the targeted issue (including human health, environmental, geographic, and other background factors), potential importance of laboratory and field testing, and a basic description of at least one current test procedure. This summary does not need to be a perfectly polished report; it represents a precursor to your presentation and an opportunity for us to give you feedback on your chosen topic. [Due 7:00 PM Thursday April 10]
Background & Preliminary Research - Powerpoint presentation highlighting initial findings of your research. Include what the problem is, background, preliminary findings, ideally cite ~5+ peer reviewed journal articles and 2+ books, depending on topic. Slide are due 6pm, presentations in class Thursday April 16
Research Article - Throughout the quarter each student or team will be responsible for sharing 1 key article with the class. This article should be one of the key articles you feel brings new knowledge to your research topic (the article may be something new and exciting, or an older article which your research area has been built on). Due: Throughout the quarter.
Class Schedule
Key Dates
Tuesday April 1 - First Day of Class: Introduction to Class, ESW & Past Projects
Tuesday April 8 - Research Techniques & Project Topics
Thursday April 10 - no class [1 page project description, emailed to Molly due]
Tuesday April 15 - Sophie Walewijk: Remote Lab Work in Ghana
Thursday April 17 - Class Presentations [Background and Preliminary Research due]
Tuesday April 22 - Journal Discussion
Thursday April 24 - Guest Speaker, Sasha Kramer
Tuesday April 29 - Journal Discussion
Thursday May 8 - Helena Horak: Incubator Design and Remote Fecal Coliforms
Tuesday May 13 - Journal discussion and general meeting
Thursday May 15 - Due On wiki: Matrix filled out with all information on technologies complete, all background info on wiki and properly cited. At this point the only incomplete section should be the detailed descriptions of each method.
Tuesday May 20 - Gary Zieff, Dissigno: Refrigeration and entrepreneurial perspective.
Due on wiki: Complete and fully cited draft of wiki document due on the wiki for review and feedback.
Thursday May 22, 5:30pm - Lynn Hildemann: Indoor Air Quality Testing in Bangladesh
Tuesday May 27 - Journal discussion and general meeting
Due for presentation: Slides for Final Presentation due before class, emailed to Molly & Eric. Your presentation should be no more than 12 minutes and should cover all the important points from your wiki document in a succinct manner. We will review your slides during the week and send back comments and suggestions to be incorporated in your practice final presentation.
Due on wiki: Final edits due based on comments and class feedback.
Thursday May 29 - Due for presentation: Practice Final Presentation in Class
Tuesday June 3 [5:15pm] - Due for presentation: Final Presentations, open to the general public
Logistics
CEE 177S/277S Design for a Sustainable World
When: Spring Quarter, 2008
Time: Tuesdays & Thursdays 7-9pm
Location: Building 540, room 113
Units: 2 or 4
Class Options
* CEE 177S/277S (2 units) - Design for a Sustainable World - open to anyone with enthusiasm and interest! Please submit an application to Molly Morse by April 1.
* CEE 199 (2 units) - Hand Sanitation Laboratory Component with Professor Ali Boehm - The laboratory component be taken in addition to CEE 177S/277S and is by application only. The laboratory section is designed both as a brief primer in microbial testing techniques and as an opportunity to conduct hands-on research on issues discussed in the required portion of the class. To participate, you must have experience with Biology (such as the bio core) and preferably CEE 274a. This portion of the ESW class is in collaboration with CEE 274P: Environmental Health Microbiology. Although these 2 units may be taken independently of the 274P class, we highly recommend taking the whole CEE 274P for a deeper understanding. Please submit applications and questions to Eric Sundstrom, ericsund@stanford.edu. APPLICATION DUE MARCH 10, Available here.
How to Apply
For CEE 177S/277S Send a completed application to Molly Morse by April 3, 2008.
For CEE 199 send a completed laboratory section application to Eric Sundstrom by March 10, 2008.
Grading
25% Class Participation
25% Assignments
25% Final & Midterm Presentation
25% Written Report
Class History
Design for a Sustainable world is a project-based course in which students work on technology-based problems faced by developing communities worldwide. The class has been at Stanford since Spring of 2004. Student groups partner with organizations abroad to work on the concept, feasibility, design, implementation, and evaluation phases of these projects, depending on the quarter.
The course seeks to:
- Help developing communities ensure individuals' human rights via sustainable, technology-based solutions.
- Develop students' iterative design skills, project management and partnership-building abilities, sustainability awareness, cultural sensitivity, empathy, and desire to use technical skills to promote peace and human development.
- Increase Stanford University's stewardship of global sustainability.
Past Projects
Past projects have included:
Cosmos Education - Africa, Spring 2004 (partnered with Cosmos)
Thoughts on Green School Design - Nicaragua, Spring 2005 (partnered with Centro Nueva Segovia)
Rebuilding After the Tsunami - Andaman Islands, India, Spring 2005 (partnered with SEEDS)
Sustainable Campus Design - Sevalaya, Chennai, India, Fall 2005 (partnered with Sevalaya)
Ecological Sanitation - Milot, Haiti, Spring 2006 (partnered with SOIL)
El Centro Green Building Ideas - Ocotal, Nicaragua, Fall 2006 (partnered with Centro Nueva Segovia)
Seismic Performance of Himalayan Vernacular Architecture - Spring 2007 (partnered with SEEDS)
