Hello!
Meeting with Isla Urbana has taught me the broader scope of the issues that these engineers tend to. They aren’t just posed with the challenge of solving a water scarcity issue, they also face numerous challenges pertaining to the implementation policies(laws), public/private/government funding, as well as catering the tool with the people and not “for” the people. This means that they mold the technology to the living circumstances and culture of the people. They do this by traveling to the communities that they feel will be aided most by their product and hold community activities in order to understand their situations on a insider level rather than a spectator level. This is very important for designing something that will actually be put to use rather than made for people and then the people not using it for reasons unaccounted such as aesthetics or taste or religion. I personally have never thought of all these different avenues that have to be accounted for and the size and versatility of the team you have to work with tohandle these projects! It really opens the mind to think about all of these at once!
Below are photos of us with Delfín(the Isla Urbana member) and some of the technology they have created in order to help people install rainwater harvesting mechanisms to make the most out of heavy rainfall seasons!
This week, we started reverse-engineering a water filtering device and have learned to observe and pinpoint certain design structures and tools using their tell tale signs such as injection molding, plastic welding, etc. This is very important in understanding how the object was made, the tools and materials necessary to reproduce it, and the manufacturing power needed to recreate and distribute this product. This is important in understanding if its even feasible to create this product depending on material availability, costs, etc. This means a lot of thinking needs to go into the surrounding suppliers and manufacturers. In addition, we also learned about the EPA water quality standards that the US takes to disinfect our water sources and how costly they truly are, meaning they cannot be solved on a singular level and would be much more successful on a communal level!
Below are some pictures with our water filters after some destruction and some of the tell tale signs of creation with certain techniques!
