Appropriate Technology Collaborative at Appropriate Technology Fair
Our LED lamps on display
The Appropriate Technology Collaborative recently had some of our products featured at an appropriate technology fair at the University of Michigan’s North Campus. It was great to see so many engineering students engaged in developing technological solutions to improve the lives of people in the developing world. 
Low Cost Paper House for Slum Dwellers
A model of the prefabricated paper house
Designers at Bauhaus University have developed a low cost paper house that could be used to provide housing for slum dwellers. From the article in Spiegel:
Niemöller is a co-founder of the Swiss company The Wall AG, which holds the patent for material used in the construction of the mini-homes. But, he says, he envisions the houses — called the “Universal World House” — ultimately being produced in the countries where they are needed. And, he says, the sticker price for the 36 square meter (387.5 square foot) structures won’t be more than $5,000 each.
The material used in the construction of the houses mimics the honeycomb pattern used in the manufacture of airplanes and other products for which both weight and strength are important factors. But instead of using aluminium or other alloys, Niemöller used resin-soaked paper processed to form thin, light — yet strong — panels. The material is also an excellent insulator, and is flexible, making it appropriate in areas at risk of earthquakes.
At a price of $5,000 the house is out of range for some of the poorest of the poor. None the less, Nigeria has already put in an order for 2,400 houses.
-Ben Connor Barrie
Photo via: Spiegel
Donate a Laptop, Save the World
ATC needs your laptops
The Appropriate Technology Collaborative is planning a trip to visit our project partners in Guatemala in February. We would like to bring some gently used, working laptops to a school we will be visiting. If you live in South East Michigan and would like to make a tax deductible laptop donation, drop me an e-mail: ben.connorbarrie@gmail.com.
We are looking for working Windows machines (preferably XP), that are in good working order and have at least a 40 gig hard drive. Your laptop donation is tax deductible and will be put to good use at a rural school that lacks much needed technology.
For more info please Contact Us
-Ben Connor Barrie
Photo via: SBray
LED Light Update
One of our prototype LED lamps
Over the holidays we received our shipment of LED’s and resistors and have been soldering up a storm. We’ve cobbled together a few prototype lamps that are going to be on display at the Developing Nations, Developing Technologies show on North Campus next week. We’ve also sent off some components to our design partner gregorysung so that they can develop their experimental designs for the lighting system. You can check out: www.gregorysung.com for more details and for more photos, check out www.flickr.com + more updates as they come.
(Note: The LEDs we use in the field don’t use resistors, instead they feature a high efficiency circuit boards that improve the overall system efficiency by about 25%.)
-Ben Connor Barrie
