IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2010 - 20

Pipelining
Attractive Programs for Women

A Segue
to Bigger Ambitions

such as gasoline and propane, it will
burn more readily available local fuels
derived from vegetable oil, or even the
methane evolving off of cow dung. By
consuming the methane generated by
the cow dung, the device yields an added
advantage to the rest of the world in
that the methane, if not consumed by
Programs break new ground across the globe
this engine, would produce 21 times the
greenhouse gas impact as its equivalent
mass in carbon dioxide.
To solve the water problem, DEKA
has designed the vapor-compression distunity to use electric tools). These comThough he's most recently known for
tiller, another trash can-sized machine
munities need a simple, reliable source
his invention of the Segway Human
that can accept contaminated water
of electricity.
Transporter device, Dean Kamen has
from any source and provide enough
But while electricity is essential for
a long history of working on really big
development, clean drinking
challenges-everything from improvng
clean water for the typical needs
water is critical for a populaing quality of life with portable medical
of 100 people every day. Unlike
many other water purification
tion to be healthy enough
devices to changing the culture of an
m
systems, the DEKA design
to take advantage of other
entire nation with a robotics competidoes not focus on eliminattechnology. When 2 million
tion. The individual projects vary widely
ing a single pollutant; it can
people each year are dying
in focus, but the goal is always the same:
desalinize salt water, remove
and hundreds of millions are
"Find a serious problem and use technolharmful bacteria like giarsick from water-borne disogy to address it."
dia, and remove contamieases, the scale of the probKamen founded his own research
Dean Kamen
nants like arsenic, making it
lem is clear. It's a problem
company, DEKA Research and Developa "one-size-fits-all" solution for any area
recognized by the United Nations, Interment, in 1982 to tackle these serious
lacking clean drinking water.
national Monetary Fund, World Health
problems. External companies like JohnThese two machines together could
Organization, and many other political
son & Johnson or the Defense Advanced
work miracles in the developing comand nongovernmental organizations.
Research Projects Agency (DARPA) fund
munities for which they were designed.
But it is a hard problem to address in
much of DEKA's work, though DEKA
They have been built, proven, and testany scalable way-digging wells, buildalso works on internal research projects.
ed in rural areas. The core technoling dams, and installing an expensive
For more than a decade, DEKA has been
ogy is there, and the need is there, but
purification infrastructure is very difusing its internal funding to solve two
Kamen says the biggest challenge now
ferent from distributing vaccinations or
very important problems for the develis production and distribution. To drive
mobile phones.
oping world: electricity and clean water.
down the per-unit cost, the machines
DEK A's answer to the electricity
Electricity is a key factor in fostering
will have to be built in massive quantichallenge is a machine not much larger
technological development in developing
ties well above the thousands of units
than a trash can, called the Stirling gennations. When electricity becomes availthat groups such as the World Health
erator. The device, based on the heatable, citizens in these areas suddenly
Organization or Rotary Club Internapowered Stirling engine concept, is
have access to a longer work day (thanks
tional would each buy to distribute in
intended to supply basic electrical needs
to electric light), a communications
targeted communities. It will require
for a small village, but multiple devices
infrastructure (such as the Internet and
substantial redesign for manufacturing,
could be used to scale up the output as
the ability to charge mobile phones), and
reliability, and serviceability. And somenecessary. The Stirling generator will
increased productivity (with the opporone will have to manage the installaburn nearly any available fuel. Besides
tions in the small villages and urban
the obvious liquid and gaseous fuels,
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2010.936178

IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE

JUNE 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2010