In the world

A Mexican member of the team takes the first sip of the purified water produced by the system.

In the World: Small Mexican village produces clean water with solar-powered system

MIT-developed system runs autonomously, producing 1,000 liters per day.

September 11, 2013

A view of traffic in Kuala Lumpur. A better understanding of how deliveries are made to shops and kiosks in such areas could help with the planning of roads, bike lanes and parking areas, the MIT researchers say.

In The World: Mapping the logistics of megacities

New open-source online maps generated by MIT students provide details of urban supply chains.

September 9, 2013

Discarded materials such as these on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, could become raw material for a variety of useful, and potentially salable, products. Participants from around the world at this year's International Development Design summit in Brazil worked on ways of creating value from waste material.

In The World: Helping Brazilians turn waste into products

International summit fosters ways of producing everything from food to flooring, using discarded materials.

August 31, 2012

Matthew Orosz and Amy Mueller work with locals in Lesotho to implement their solar ORC system.

Bringing power to the people — and heat as well

Sun-powered system developed by MIT students could provide electricity, heat and cooling to rural schools and clinics.

August 6, 2012

A clinic in the village of Bisate, Rwanda, the yellow building in foreground, was equipped with storage tanks to collect rainwater for use during the area's dry seasons. The corrugated metal roof was fitted with gutters to carry the water to several large collecting tanks, using a 'first-flush' diversion system to separate out the first, dirty water at the beginning of each rainfall.

In the World: How rainwater can meet clean-water needs

Rainfall can provide an alternative to polluted groundwater in developing countries, but systems are needed to keep it clean.

March 5, 2012

During the entrepreneurship competition that capped off AITI's course in Kenya last summer, students demonstrated the mobile applications around which they hoped to build companies.

In the World: Fostering entrepreneurship in developing nations

In 11 years, MIT’s Accelerating Information Technology Innovation (AITI) program has trained more than 1,500 budding entrepreneurs in seven countries.

December 12, 2011

Murmurs of Mayan: MIT undergraduate travels to Mexico to study underdescribed language.

In the World: Murmurs of Mayan

MIT undergraduate travels to Mexico in hopes of documenting and preserving ancient linguistic phenomena — and the culture behind them.

October 6, 2011

Members of a team that developed a system for generating gas from agricultural waste, which is attached to a small engine to generate power for charging cellphones, demonstrate their prototype at a village in Ghana.

In the World: Design summit’s inventions find willing buyers

Devices to improve lives in developing countries are so appealing that even the initial prototypes attract buyers.

August 26, 2011

Amy Smith, in blue dress, leads a workshop in a village in Uganda.

In the World: Cultivating creativity

For some of the world’s poorest people, the biggest impact can come from fostering creative problem-solving.

May 9, 2011

Ghanasco Dugout, Tamale, Ghana — a typical water-collection area for the villages in the region

In the World: New water-filter factory in Ghana

After years of development, production of ceramic-pot water filters should soar with opening of new facility.

May 6, 2011

A member of the Rede CataSampa waste-pickers cooperative demonstrates the filtration system for waste vegetable oil that was set up with the help of MIT students.

In the World: Turning old oil into new mileage

Brazilian waste pickers gain an inexpensive way to fuel their vehicles using leftover cooking oil.

February 24, 2011

Three students from the Ghana Fab Lab put the finishing touches on a solar panel unit in Kobina Adorh Krom village, with help from a young friend.

Undergrads bring energy education to Ghana

Ghanaian high school students share alternative energy ideas with rural village.

December 8, 2010

In the system, a solar photovoltaic panel powers pumps that push seawater through a permeable membrane to remove salt and other minerals.

In the World: Drinking water, from sunshine

MIT team designs solar-powered portable desalination system to use in disaster zones and remote regions.

October 15, 2010

Using Sana, health-care workers take photos of precancerous lesions inside a patient’s mouth in India. Those images were then transmitted to an oncologist for diagnosis.

In the World: Health care in the palm of a hand

MIT-led student team develops mobile-device software to help improve health-care accessibility in remote regions.

September 27, 2010

A working prototype of the mechanical ventilator developed by MIT students. They are working on a new version designed for easy manufacturability and maintenance.

In the World: Breath of life

Low-cost portable ventilator could be a lifesaver for people in remote locations and for hospitals in the developing world.

July 15, 2010

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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