This paper describes the research attempt to understand driver behaviour in heterogeneous, untidy traffic in developing countries through simulation. Cities of Dhaka, Bangkok and Delhi were identified as three case study areas where traffic surveys were conducted and driver behaviour analysed. The paper tries to quantify the level of ‘aggressiveness’ in a particular driver-vehicle environment and proposes a simulation package to understand it. A modified Tetris approach has been developed to simulate heterogeneous and untidy traffic. The study looks into the relationship of varying driver typologies, based on age and their relative aggression levels associated with trips and vehicle typologies in the three case locations. It proposes a simulation package to generate varying driver responses in context of slow moving and untidy traffic. The study reveals that age, and driver experiences are a significant factor in determining level of driver aggression. The driver response in a particular environment is a system optimum response of his individual state, in relation to the performance of system’s ‘driver-vehicle environment’. The study concludes that while heterogeneous and mixed traffic increases vehicle delays, and stops at the signalised links, untidy traffic reduces it. The combined effect of heterogeneity and untidiness cancel each other. The simulation reveals that segregation of traffic based on vehicular typologies and speeds leads to optimisation of link performance and environment. The research proposes a simulation model that can accurately simulate mixed, slow moving, and untidy traffic condition with varying degree of driver aggression and recommends its applications.

Use of external fixators in undeveloped countries has been limited due to their high cost. Consequently, one of the aims of our group is the design, construction, and evaluation of low cost external fixators. In this paper we present the mechanical characterization of an Ilizarov fixator composed of rings made of aluminum, which is light, cheap, easy to form, radiolucid and anticorrosive. The main purpose was to determine the 3-D stiffness of the fixator (Duda et al., 1998) in order to be able to evaluate interfragmentary movement. We hypothesize that this fixator has the ability to limit shear and allow axial movements that are beneficial to bone healing (Goodship et al., 1985; Kenwrigh et al., 1991). Given the amount of work involved to experimentally determine the 3-D stiffness matrix of an external fixator we used simple computational models that were calibrated experimentally for a couple of load cases.

Small-Medium-enterprises (SMEs) occupy a large proportion in modem global economies. However, most SMEs haven’t enough capacities to obtain valuable information and develop new products, thus resulting in a low flexibility to the market. In the times of intellectual globalization economies, while being in competition with powerful rival such as large corporation group, how the SMEs could find an effective way to survive today and further develop tomorrow, especially in the developing country, is focused on in this paper. Based on industry catalog, Industrial Alliance, a novel approach was put forward in this paper. Owing to commonwealth information platform, Industrial Alliance is able to assemble SMEs with similar product characteristics and market areas to enhance their competitiveness. In this paper, enterprise behavior protocol is proposed concerning forging alliance among SMEs. Moreover, the systematic architecture of Industrial Alliance is mainly depicted in order to image the whole profile of Industrial Alliance, including the essential principle, support application technology coupled with collaboration activities. At last, take the fluid power trade for an example, the practical research experiment of the information system for China fluid power (Including hydraulic and pneumatic products) Industrial Alliance is illustrated.

Feedwater heating combined cycle is one of the CC-repowering means for the conventional PC power station improvement. The preferable characteristics of such combined cycle to be used in China and other developing countries for repowering are its comparably lower investment, less oil/gas consumption, especially its low technical difficulties and easier accomplishment. The concise performance expressions for the existing steam station repowering are derived, and highlight is put to the combined cycle off-design performance study. It is pointed out that there are some problems deserving more attention for the part-load operation. The performances of several different operating scenarios are analyzed, and the better one is recommended based on the comparison.

Rapid industrial developments and the resulting need for additional electrical power in major population centers of the world such as India, China and Brazil, have created a need and an opportunity for power from clean and renewable sources of energy. The need to develop and use resources such as solar energy, wind, and biomass has assumed even greater importance in view of the concern for environmental damage that could occur if all of the anticipated power demand in the expanding economies were met by fossil fuels. Recent advances in wind energy technology have made it economically competitive with fossil-fuel-generated electricity, wherever sufficient wind resource is available. Solar thermal power can be economically competitive when compared with coal-generated electricity if environmental costs are accounted for (Goswami, 1994). However, without considering such environmental costs (a realistic scenario for developing countries like India and China) solar power may not be competitive at present because of the high capital costs. The potential exists for reducing these expenses by improving the performance of thermal power systems. The system performance can be improved by employing new and innovative ideas in thermal power cycles. This article reviews some of these ideas and research needs to make solar thermal power cost competitive.

The design, simulation, and testing of a novel portable pasteurization system suitable for the daily needs of four individuals are presented. This is the first self-powered, large-scale portable system developed to kill waterborne pathogens that contaminate current water supplies worldwide. The major components of the system consist of available technology: two evacuated solar collectors, a heat exchanger, two holding tanks, and a thermostatic valve. Flow of contaminated water through these components is permitted only when the temperature specified by the thermostatic valve is reached. Simulation of system performance is obtained via a lumped capacitance, time-dependent analysis with a limited number of input parameters. A prototype pasteurizer was designed and constructed, and proof-of-concept experiments were conducted in Minnesota in May 1998. The system was able to deliver nearly the predicted quantity of pasteurized water, approximately 70 liter/day.

Intravenous (IV) fluid regulation is necessary in developing nations to prevent IV-overhydration in the pediatric patients of low-resource hospitals. Traditionally, regulation is achieved by calculating the total fluid outflow from an IV bag and restricting flow before the patient is injected with dangerous levels of fluid. However, standard fluid regulation devices include infusion pumps and burettes, which are costly and often ill-suited for low-resource environments. This research proposes a low-cost, easy to use device that regulates the volume of intravenous (IV) fluid delivered to a patient in a low-resource clinical setting. Laboratory accuracy tests (N = 32) over a range of clinically-relevant fluid volumes yielded a median and max error of 4 and 8mL respectively, falling within specific error thresholds (p < le-5). Non-clinical usability tests (N = 25) showed median and max device setup times to be 40 and 55 seconds respectively (p < le-5). Additionally, all participants found the device “easy to use” and were able to set up and use the device with less than 20 minutes of training.

Pre-college project-based learning programs are essential means to increase the students’ interest toward STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines and careers. Engineering-based projects have shown significant impact on the students’ interests. Therefore, developing countries are investing strategically in their emphasis to attract students to careers in STEM fields, specifically engineering and medicine. That resulted in a steady expansion of their educational pipeline in STEM; and while that emphasis remains, there is a new and urgent need for expertise in agriculture, environmental science, life sciences and sustainability to support the agriculture industry, which is working to secure independent sources of food for their population. New interventions must be devised to stimulate broader interest in STEM fields while also increasing students’ academic readiness for advanced studies in those areas. To target the requirement of increasing people’s competencies in STEM fields, various programs have been created and designed to inspire and broaden students’ inquisitiveness toward STEM. This paper presents an integrated science-engineering program, called Qatar Invents, designed to support and enhance students’ learning of science concepts while also increasing students’ understanding of global challenges in food and water security. This goes with close connection to the desire to increase in the domestic production of agricultural resources in developing countries in recent years. Qatar Invents would engage students into learning and applying fundamental engineering skills onto relatable real-world issues: namely, in the design of hydroponics systems. Qatar Invents challenges students to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills in solving modern problems through the use of the engineering design process. With hands-on challenges, modeling, and communication training, students are motivated to tackle problems related to food security where they create hydroponics projects. Qatar Invents’ learning objectives included: teamwork, using proper toolbox skills, understanding what is engineering, the process of brainstorming, creating successful innovative designs, building prototypes, and developing presentation skills. Throughout this program, the participants were equipped with hands-on knowledge and critical thinking skills that helped them achieve their objectives. Utilizing the engineering design process, the students worked in small teams to brainstorm ideas and create inventions. The topics covered during the program included the importance of an engineering notebook and documentation, principals of engineering graphics, basics of agricultural science, foundations of hydroponics, the brainstorming practice, generating a decision matrix, proof of concept, and pitching ideas. At the end of the program, the students came up with novel solutions to serious problems wherein unique hydroponics projects were produced and presented to a panel of experts. This program attempts to build bridges between developing countries’ STEM education pipeline and the new demand of talent in the agriculture sector. All pertinent details including the preparation, instructional materials, prototyping materials, and case studies are presented in this paper.

The objective of this research is to design a human-powered desalination unit that can provide safe drinking water for a typical household in developing countries. The hypothesis of our study is that a human-powered machine operating on a Mechanical Vapor Compression (MVC) cycle can provide economically- and technologically-affordable drinking water without the use of expensive RO membranes. Thermodynamic analysis for human-powered MVC cycle with minimized pressure difference and small surface area is conducted. The design space included the following limitations: (i) only one compressor and only pump could be used, (ii) evaporation mass ratio was less than 0.7, and (iii) the water had to reach the minimum temperature required to inactivate bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. The effects of the concentration of salt in the waste brine were considered. The flow rate of clean water generated was calculated as a function of the required heat exchanger surface area; the primary cost factor in the design; as well as the compressor isentropic efficiency. The effect of the isentropic efficiency of the compressor on the unit performance was also investigated. The point of maximum efficiency in term of mass flow rate per unit surface area was calculated.

The interaction between technology and people is characterized by sociotechnical models. In the context of design, these types of systems are analyzed to increase productivity. The level of productivity is expected to increase as the technology evolves. Still, a lack of focus on adaptive design hinders the success of sociotechnical systems. The problem is evident in the relationship between microgrid technology and the residents of developing communities. An analysis of this type of sociotechnical system is analyzed in this paper. Rural villages in the developing world often lack access to the power grid. However, microgrids can provide electrical power in these locations. Power can be harnessed from renewable resources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and hydropower. Large batteries are used to store energy and buffer the electrical supply with the demand. The system powers security lighting, water pumps, and purification systems. Microgrids also power small machines that sustain agriculture in developing communities. The access to energy uplifts the developing community socially and economically. Still, as the community evolves, energy demand increases and the microgrid is unable to provide sufficient energy. A challenge in microgrid design involves the scalability of the system. Currently, there is no method for adapting the microgrid system to the increases in demand that occur over time. Accordingly, a mathematical framework is needed to support design decisions that could otherwise support adaptability. A demand model to predict the energy use for a composite rural village is presented. The predicted demand requirements are configured using a design optimization simulation model. These configurations are studied, and adaptive design techniques are devised through the process. The outcome of this study identifies a basic design methodology for microgrid design that is cognizant of scalability. Moreover, it identifies key attributes and relationships for the mathematical framework that supports the overarching goal of adaptable design.

The topic of this paper could be irrelevant to well-developed and developing countries, however, it is quite challenging to educate students in privileged income developing countries in which all primary needs of education, health, shelter and basic needs (the base for Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) are taken care of by the government. This leaves little room for the young generation to aspire to. Insufficient internal drive to work hard or to prove oneself since all basic needs are taken care of and most of these students are coming from well-off families. This created a real dilemma for educators in how to motivate and encourage this generation to take education seriously and work hard towards their degree and appreciate this educational journey. This paper would discuss some of these motivational tools and a set of recommendations for the government on this issue.

Traumatic brain injury is one of the leading causes of injury and death in both developed and developing countries. Animal models are important preclinical tools for injury level studies. In this study, a finite element (FE) model of mouse brain was constructed to investigate the biomechanical responses of brain tissue during a controlled cortical impact (CCI). Impact of the brain tissue was simulated with varying impact speeds and angles. Computational results indicated that the viscoelastic properties of the brain tissue and the impact angle could greatly influence the injury responses. Comparison with the experimental observation showed that energy based stress parameters such as the von Mises stress has the potential to be descriptive of the injury levels.

There is an ever increasing need to provide clean and portable drinking water in developing countries because of the poor quality of water, which causes various water borne diseases killing millions of infants and elderly people every year. There have been a lot of recent developments in the field of solar enabled water distillation where pure water is being generated. But a majority of the system use some type of external energy source for the system to run on which might make it efficient but can cause dependence on energy sources. The power of the Sun can be effectively harnessed and used as heat and light source for efficient steam generation. One of the challenges is to develop a low cost system which can perform at par with the best and extravagant systems. This paper investigates the performance of the solar distillation system when activated carbon nanoparticles are used along with brine and other sources of impure water so as to obtain clean water. The activated carbon nanoparticle which are an efficient and cheap mode of water purification enhanced the productivity of the system by 190% when compared to saline water due to its steam generation properties. A solar simulator of 1 K W m 2 was used to simulate the sun. Various parameters like the variation of air flow on condensation rate, height of fluid on vapor production rate and the temperature variation of the system are evaluated. Parametric studies of the effect of water quality and salinity were performed. It was determined that the optimum output rate of distilled water was 240 grams ( 6000 g d a y . m 2 ) was determined by the system from the parametric studies and the system is feasible and cost effective to be used in real world application. All of these standout features make the system a low cost option which can tackle the clean water dilemma in developing countries.

Through design thinking, a team of researchers and students from Nigeria, Ghana and Germany has identified rural transportation as a key enabler for addressing the most pressing challenges in the developing world. Since 2013, the team has been working together on designing a new vehicle concept for Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of the project is to provide the rural population in Sub-Saharan Africa with an attractive mobility concept that helps to prevent the rural exodus and strengthens the independence of the rural regions. A promising concept must consider the specific market requirements and the resources available locally in order to address the heart of the problem as a “First Mile Vehicle”. This paper aims to introduce a holistic framework for frugal innovation and to analyze the process of deriving the vehicle concept meeting regional requirements until it is ready for serial production. The focus, therefore, is demand-driven development of a multifunctional electric vehicle that primarily provides mobility for the individual and transport of people and goods as a possible commercial basis. The result of the research and design process is a vehicle concept that meets the needs of the people living in rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. The first fully functional prototype of this vehicle was presented to the public at the Technical University of Munich in May 2016.

Point-of-care (POC) medical diagnostics tests based on instrumented microfluidic chips are instructive and highly-multidisciplinary projects for undergraduate research and Senior Design. Students can apply their knowledge of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, optics, electronics and microcontrollers, materials, prototyping and systems engineering in translating and adapting a laboratory-based test for use in non-traditional venues. We discuss the design, prototyping, and testing of POC lab-on-a-chip (LOC) systems in an educational setting, where undergraduate students develop and demonstrate novel and practical POC tests. This application area serves as an effective gateway to the medical diagnostics field for engineering students, with opportunities for providing sustainable, appropriate, and ‘green’ technology to the developing world where healthcare infrastructure is lacking.

Compressed earth blocks constructions are appropriate for the improvement of the housing conditions in poor contexts, in particular in developing countries. The blocks are produced using manually operated presses, preferably bidirectional. The bidirectional human powered presses currently available are mechanically complex, difficult to use and very expensive. In order to overcome these issues, the paper presents the concept and the design of a new bidirectional human powered press for compressed earth blocks, called Float-Ram. The press is characterized by: the adoption of a floating mold, which provides a bi-directional pressing action in simple way; an optimized kinematic structure, based on a cam-roller follower transmission system; a general mechanical simplicity, since the node of all kinematic pairs is constituted by a single shaft. The Float-Ram, tested on the laboratory and on the field, can be considered as an important media for the diffusion of high-quality raw earth building in developing countries.

The rapid increase in global communication infrastructure in developing countries has drawn significant attention to the telecom sector. However, the dismal performance of the power sector in some countries like Nigeria poses a great challenge to the telecom industry which requires a reliable, efficient and environmentally friendly energy supply. Unstable electric grids, an erratic power supply, non-availability of trained and skilled personnel, and a prohibitive cost of site maintenance cumulatively have increased the need to harness abundant renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind. A comparative study of the viability of solar-diesel hybrid against diesel-only generator systems in powering a base station using the cost of kilowatt hour (kWh) self-generated electricity and levelised cost of energy (LCOE) was undertaken using data from some sites located in the Southwest (SW) and the Northeast (NE) regions of Nigeria. Homer Pro Software was used in data analysis. The results obtained showed that with a hybrid energy system (solar and diesel generator), there were 79% savings in fuel consumption, 83.2% savings in operation and maintenance cost for the hybrid energy system in the SW. The savings on fueling as a result of the use of hybrid systems was 86%, and the carbon footprint reduction was 76%. Furthermore, the cost of operation was reduced by 51% for Northeast. The LCOE for the solar hybrid system was determined to be $1.44 for NE1A and NE1B while that of NE2A was $1.46 and NE2B $1.47.

This paper introduces an innovative design concept for a low-cost solar-thermal aeration system for fish ponds which is amenable to implementation in resource-constrained settings. In its most basic form, the system consists of a metallic solar thermal collector and a heat transfer column (referred to as conduction element in this paper), which induces convective circulation by dissipating heat to the cooler, deeper layers of the pond. As a result of the circulation, oxygen generated by phytoplankton at the top of the pond is distributed throughout the water column, preventing oxygen losses to the atmosphere due to surface supersaturation and increasing the overall dissolved oxygen (DO) content in the pond. This paper presents a design study to evaluate different system configurations. Thermofluidic numerical models were implemented to systematically analyze and compare the mass flow rate through the draft tube induced by convection. Furthermore, parametric studies were performed to evaluate the effect of the insulation patch length and the aluminum plate thickness on the overall performance of the device (i.e. the induced mass flow rate through the draft tube). It was found that the two-fin configuration with split conduction elements was superior to the central rod design in terms of performance. In addition, it was found that depending on the insulation patch length, the induced mass flow rates can be increased up to 5 times. The results from the computational models indicate that the device can induce the convective circulation in order to improve the DO content at deep levels of the ponds and has potential to improve aquaculture productivity in resource-constrained settings. The results from this study will be used to configure systems for future field evaluations that will be performed in fish ponds in Bangladesh.

Developing countries are mostly reliant on external technologies and this augments the need for systems engineering capability in these economies. It is therefore imperative that systems engineering as theory and practice is included in undergraduate engineering curricula to strengthen the internal technological capability of a country’s developing engineers. In South Africa, the quality of undergraduate engineering programs is governed by the Engineering Council of South Africa (affiliated under the Washington Accord); and the exit level outcomes of the programs are predetermined explicitly per module. Systems engineering was introduced to an undergraduate electrical engineering program offered in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Johannesburg; and a framework developed to ensure that the program still meets the requisite ECSA exit level outcomes and therefore international standards. This paper presents the design and implementation of the framework, as well as the challenges that students are exposed to when faced with real-world systems engineering practice. Students were grouped into independent product development teams using a software support tool which promotes diversity and skill-level targets for each team. The independent team structure required the use and application of the systems engineering process and supported the development of management and communication skills. Furthermore, the framework allowed assessment of the performance of each product development team towards achieving the overall project objectives. One of the accreditation requirements of undergraduate engineering programs is peer assessment and this was achieved by the process. The paper closes by presenting the results of the stated framework implementation in an undergraduate electrical engineering program offered in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Johannesburg.

Access to electricity is one of the most essential requirements for development. Furthermore, the U.S. Energy Information Administration has predicted that growth in electricity use is projected to largely come from developing countries as defined by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). However, the transition to clean energy is occurring too slowly in rural parts of developing countries. Renewable energy provides the opportunity for sustainable energy to be provided to those living in rural areas of developing countries, who have not had access to clean energy. Renewable energy technology is necessary because traditional measures of energy access are not able to address the deficiencies in the affordability, reliability, and other barriers associated with renewable energy distribution. While there have been several successful rural electrification technologies in the past few years, sustainable technologies still have the potential to be unsuccessful if they fail to overcome the many barriers that stand in the way of energy progression in developing countries. Moreover, a product’s technical performance is not a sound indicator of how well that product will be adopted by users. This paper argues that technical and social barriers to renewable energy dissemination have not been surmounted due to a lack of innovation in terms of engineering solutions. Innovative “grid-free” engineering products can enable developing countries to avoid a possible industrial revolution while still growing their economy, since they are not hindered by an electricity grid. This paper identifies technical barriers to renewable energy development from the literature, and suggests possible innovations that can aid rural areas of developing countries in achieving electrification. The technology explored in this paper include super capacitors, a ground-air thermoelectric generator, and photovoltaic solar cells, which all have the potential to provide energy access to those living in less urbanized areas of developing countries.