A Serendipitous Passion

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I soon realized that while I could make a dent in the problem, much more could be accomplished with the help of other students. So in spring 2007, I introduced the MIT class Wheelchair Design in Developing Countries (WDDC). We work with partners in target countries to define class projects, taking into account conditions such as the terrain where the wheelchairs will be used; the local availability of parts, materials, and skilled labor; and the purchasing power of people who make around a dollar per day. Students then develop prototypes in collaboration with our partners and U.S. and European mobility experts. And to make sure class projects don't sit on the shelf at the end of the semester, WDDC and the PSC offer summer fellowships to send students to the partners' workshops, where they help test and refine the technologies they've developed. In 2007, alumni support helped five students spend the summer in Africa through the PSC. This year we have funding to send seven students to Africa and Southeast Asia.

Limited access to wheelchairs is just one problem that could use the ingenuity of MIT students: tuberculosis, malaria, lack of clean water, and inhalation of cooking-fire smoke all plague a huge fraction of the world's popu­lation. What better way to spend my time than to tackle such problems and inspire the next generation of engineers to do the same? Even if students initially have less than altruistic reasons for being drawn to my course (or to other international­-­development opportunities available through the PSC, D-Lab, and the IDEAS competition), it's part of my job to help show them how much of the world exists beyond the Infinite, and how much power they have to make it better.

PhD candidate Amos Winter, SM '05, is a researcher in the Hatsopoulos Microfluids Laboratory Hosoi Research Group and the Precision Engineering Research Group.