Presenting socially-conscious tech at American Precision Museum

WINDSOR, Vt. —The Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineers (DHE) student group is presenting at the American Precision Museum on Saturday, July 13 at 3 p.m. as part of the Museum’s free 2019 Sustainability Speaker Series. Their presentation, “Designing Appropriate Technology for Long Term Agricultural Sustainability,” explains the group’s work creating an ultra-fast, inexpensive, simple system to produce hydroponic nutrient solution, aka compost tea, which contains all the macronutrients necessary for plant survival and can be diluted for use as an organic fertilizer. The project was chosen as one of five finalists in the National Academy of Engineers U.S. Global Grand Challenge in Washington, D.C. Next the DHE will be traveling to London to compete in the International Global Grand Challenge against finalists from the U.K. and China.

DHE is committed to designing sustainable, affordable, socially-conscious technology for communities in need. Since 2004, DHE has been active in Haiti, Rwanda, Tanzania, Marrakech, Morocco, Quito as well as Upper Valley communities surrounding Dartmouth. The group is currently running three projects, including one in Ecuador building a rapid composter and one designing a more durable cot for a local homeless shelter. By addressing humanitarian challenges with appropriate technologies, DHE hopes to encourage students to use their education to serve underprivileged communities.