Page 9 - ME Newsletter Fall

around the world
The Wright Approach
The Wright Lab’s approach to uncovering research problems is unique. Led by Assistant Professor Natasha Wright, the lab focuses
on decentralized water treatment and
energy systems in low- and middle-income communities, and each project originates in the field, rather than the lab.
Natasha Wright (left) and Jenn Hoody (middle) meet with the Masii Horticultural Farmers’ Cooperative Society to discuss a hybrid solar tunnel dryer used to dry mango in Kenya
Most engineering challenges lie within a
complex system of technical, social, economic,
and political relationships. Therefore, rather than lab research,
Student Ali Abdelkawi meets with wastewater works in India
followed by field work, Wright and
her students spend time working with stakeholders in the field to define the specific technical need first. During this time, Wright says they are asking the question, “Where is the technical lever we need to pull to enable the change that is needed?” Back in the lab, they engage with
community partners to design a solution.
WRIGHT LAB RESEARCH
• INDIA: Desalination brine management for small-volume industrial wastewater treatment. Led by Ali Abdelkawi.
• KENYA: Reducing the annual 40% crop loss in the mango industry through solar drying. Led by Jenn Hoody.
• NIGERIA AND ZIMBABWE: Increasing access to kidney dialysis through in-
hospital production of dialysis fluids. Led by Carolyn Bernemann, Beatriz Heidel,
and Ibrahim Yekinni.
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