From ESWStanford
ESW Retreat
Location, Whit's house
Attendees: Grace, Sophie, Lewis, Jennifer, Max, Karim
on their way: Molly, Heather, Kristof
couldn't make it: Salizar
breakfast and ice breaker
We all enjoyed bagels, tea, coffee, checking in...
defining roles, cheat sheet, story time
ESW Cheat-Sheet review
cheat-sheet to be posted here...
to be added
- Jenna Davis
- _________ who manages engineering management
- Craig Criddle
- Ron Sawyer (Haas fellowship)
- Jeff Wachetel
other changes
- Ian was eco-san TA
- Rachel E. was TA for Chennai class
Molly and Karim's mission
- They are trying to put together a list of everyone who has helped
National Conference Review 2004
- ~600 people came including speakers (~100)
- ~4 days, international
- huge success, put the group on the map
- put us in contact with Armand
- 9 months of organization
- Jen, Sophie, Ashwin, and
- personal emails worked
- Jen, Sophie, Ashwin, and
- there's good info there on lessons learned
Ecosan Project
Our partners had something like a change of heart
- permit issues also made it difficult
May be an avenue to explore with the Green Dorm folks
- They are looking for funding this summer
- They have done first phase design, will look to do detailed design in the coming years
Other options?
- the dish? there may be some issues there
- some folks may not want the facilities up there
- still a campus permit process will need to be facilitated
Key lessons
- we may need a department to help in order to leverage student interest and desire
Biodiesel Project
It's stalled out a little bit
- permitting have been issues
- hard to find people willing to deal with red tape
past classes
- Nicaragua green buildings (spring 2004)
- Worked with MIT, design that matters (2004)
- cheap drip system for IV
- power source for LED projector --> became casing project
- Andaman Islands following winter '04 Tsunami (spring 2005)
- Green School Building, Chennai India (fall 2005)
- Haiti Eco-Sanitation (spring 2006)
- Nicaragua Green Buildings (fall 2006)
- Seismic buildings, Himalayas (spring 2007)
past internships
- Andaman Islands (12 interns) - retrofit, reconstruct, bamboo community center
- Hati (1.5) interns
- Nicaragua
- Himalayas (2 interns) - database, vernacular technologies for seismic stability
Senior Lecturer Position in discussion
SOE logistics are being worked out
- it may happen for January next summer
- focus may be on engineering service learning
- goal may be for really senior person
- teaching focus (not research)
- possible funding for projects
- work perhaps to focus on working service into engineering courses
- they would likely have a very active role in ESW
Defining Roles
Laid out on election site Meeting Notes
Director of Projects will be a challenging role
- it will be important for all of us to help contribute to make this work
- separate meeting to be set up
Director of Events, vision - Lewis to come up with a plan for events for next year
- intent is to give him ownership (not just logistical tasks)
- workshops, speakers, field trips
- breakdown in the past of envisioning event and logistics
- lesson learned,
- cc the director on all event related email correspondence
- lesson learned,
classes, projects collaboration
We will schedule one last meeting with Salazar to make sure we are all on the same page
Has been difficult in the past to meet the ideals we have set out
How should these fit in to future of ESW?
- send interns?
- local?
- long term relationships?
- projects more like in-house design projects, similar to design that matters
- smaller scope?
- currently the ~12 week time-frame feel short
- maybe a 1 credit, 3 quarter class to maintain continuity
Class Ideas
- separate from project?
- this might allow more of a set curriculum
- always a struggle to develop curriculum afresh each quarter
- perhaps 2 credits for the material, and 1 for the design credit
Karim and Molly might be able to help put together a curriculum with Salazar
- one concern would be to overlap with d.school extreme affordability
- there is opportunity to work together with them
- standardizing the curriculum would help
What are the goals with the projects?
- lessons learned from past, one week isn't enough to get to know community
- longer-term relationships may be more productive
- geographic diversity has been a driver, should it continue to be
- continuity is important
- TAs change, students change, officers change, it's nice if something is the same
What are the goals for the class?
- 1 or 2 units, students were really into it partially because it was a 3 unit
- undergraduate vs. graduate class?
- split out project from classes? might make organization less burdensome
- local versus distant projects
How might we coordinate with the new professor?
project ideas
Water filter in Guatemala - standards for world vs. site specific
- long-term monitoring of reliability/ durability
- long-term monitoring of impact
- might be difficult for us to commit to that long of a project
Micro-credit idea
still very general, not well defined yet...
Global Healthcare partnership?
this might be an option worth exploring
Ron Sawyer has an interest in partnering with us
They have a group doing work in Mexico on mostly in waste-water issues
- he came and visited, and we know where he's coming from
- Andrew spent some time working with them in Haiti
- less of a surprise
- conference call this Thursday
Events/Workshops
Lewis driving this section
- tentative plan: one workshop, one field trip, one speaker a quarter (one event a month)
- if they built on each other, but it may be a challenge but good
fall focus - PV panels
winter focus - water (SAID)
spring focus - TBD
Grid Alternatives
What do that do?
- they make energy bills cheaper for low income houses
- they finance using low interest loans/ settlements
- they put on training sessions - this might be a good event
doing a school, we would be on our own
- this would pose a challenge, getting PV panels might be tough
- rooftop solar on schools seems like a big opportunity, but
- they have a contracting for Electricians
- they have less red tape with houses
tentative dates for a training, September or October
there is consensus that this is a good way to take a first step
- might work with GSB
- there might be an on-campus Grid Alternatives Group
- Lewis and Emily are leading that group (focusing on EPA)
- they are trying to figure out the model for how it will work as a campus chapter
- ESW might be able to work in with this group
why do workshops?
we have more technical skills than many of the sustainability groups on campus
- workshops help do training for the projects
- helps to get people involved too
how might our stuff work with the Social eChallenge?
doesn't really work with the workshop ideas so much
- might link in design that matters-style projects
we could get teams together in conjunction for the SAID conference
Winter or Spring conference, don't want to overlap with Energy Crossroads
- class might follow after the conference (especially if it's during winter quarter)
When's energy conference? Early March
- 2 day project/ conference activity
- panel with alot of people
- water theme, maybe a design project conference
- Eric to drive the conference
field trips
Let's work with Jane to leverage her field trips
sponsor a project
set up to involve more than just CEE
ESW Mission
We strive to improve the quality of life in underserved communities, through building partnerships with those who share our vision, and by developing the necessary perspectives and skill sets.
- the environmental aspects of what we do seem to be missing
clean tech vs. international development, we seem to want to be both
- international, using engineering
- environment or service?
Educating Stanford Students or Implementing ideas in the real world
- our projects and classes both seem to contribute towards our goals
speaker ideas
people?
=== how to split up responsibility? 3 groups of oficers
web-presence issues
To Dos
- gather all data into one place
- Sophie to potentially donate old one
- Karim and Molly to estimate storage
- find a place for the server (old union?)
- wiki-workshop in July (Whit to organize)
expanding membership, and website
how to address recruitment?
- how do we define a 'member'?
- login for website?
- what do we need them to do?
- how can they help?
what benefits do students get from being a member?
- how to make this not an exclusive?
- appreciation dinner?
- mixers?
- more local projects?
How do other groups work?
- students for a sustainable stanford?
Page on the wiki
- what does it mean to be a member?
- create a login
- benefits
- access to more info on our websites
- price differences for events
T-Shirts are go
- design contest?
- Grace, Whit, and Sophie can get quotes
security
seems like it is working now, everyone should try it out
branching out
This needs some work
- list of recommended readings
- list of relevant stanford classes
- list of other student groups on campus
web server
Kristof has access to a webserver
next steps
- gather all the relevant information in one place, external hard drive or google space
- find a place for the server
- decide on a place to store our current data
Issues with the new possible server
- it's loud
IT Needs
- ~500+ Mb of space
- types of files
- references
- old documents
- benefits to community
Where does the wiki fall down?
- size constraints
- not everyone is comfortable using it
- hard to re-organize
- making sure the private stuff
Other ideas
- google groups
- google mail
- google documents
- free web-hosting
- getting space on pangea
steps towards implementation on wiki
- size estimate from Karim
- Whit to set up summer wiki-workshop - 3rd week in July some time TBD
- Whit to inquire about getting more space
summer action items
- t-shirts: Grace, Whit, Sophie
- info estimation: Karim + Molly
- project meeting: Salazar + other interested people
- website improvement: Whit and Kristof
- organize Grid Alternatives issue: Lewis
- Kristof's august defense
- once a month summer meeting (submit your requests)
- everyone check out their ability to edit the site
Lessons learned
having someone keep the time is critical to success
