Providing reliable, sustainable and environmentally friendly energy is a significant global challenge today. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the energy consumption for consumer electronics will be doubled in 2022. Since these electrical devices are predominantly battery driven, it creates a large environmental burden. In addition, the renewable energy solutions currently proposed (such as solar panels and PZT materials), are not environmentally benign. This project seeks to reduce this environmental burden by developing a bacteriophage-based piezoelectric generator to convert the human body’s daily activities ( such as walking) to electricity. Since bacteriophage is a natural material and biotechnology techniques enable large-scale fabrication of gene-modified phages, it potentially offers an environmentally friendly and simple approach to green-energy generation. This project hopes to develop such phage-based electrical generator to power electrical devices by harvesting peoples’ daily movements.
Year: 2015
Keti Klaba: A Safe Place for Girls
Keti Klaba addresses mental health in Nepalese girls through interactive lessons and community service. Led by Nepali university women, and supplied with adaptive kits of lessons and resources, these clubs provide girls with strong role models, incentives to stay in school, and increased social support from peers and community members. Mental health is a sensitive topic in Nepal, so this program will focus on building general social support to avoid the negative impacts of stigma surrounding programs that address mental health. Through interactive lessons and community service, the central goals of the Keti Klaba (Girl’s Clubs) project are to improve the mental health of pre-adolescent girls in Nepal, and to provide an incentive for girls to continue their education. By the first year, the project will establish 2 Keti Klaba in Nepal.
Clean Water For Crops: As Simple as Sand and Seeds
Slow-sand filtration (SSF) is a tertiary treatment process that has been widely used for drinking water treatment. This technology has yet to be applied to wastewater treatment on a large scale. Pathogen reduction can be further enhanced by the addition of seeds from Moringa oleifera (a typical tree in Guatemala), which have proteins with antimicrobial properties. This project proposes to construct and operate a pilot-scale slow seed-sand filtration system at UC Davis to assess the feasibility of this technology, then to build a pilot-scale system in Sololá, Guatemala in order to adjust the system to local conditions. If successful, the pilot project will serve to encourage the community to build a full-scale treatment system.
Project Drsti: A Sustainable Method for Alleviating Vitamin A Deficiency
This project proposes an innovative strategy to alleviate Vitamin A (VA) deficiency in the developing world by harnessing the metabolic power of a probiotic bacterium, Lactobacillus casei. By engineering L. casei to produce provitamin A (β-carotene) during yogurt fermentation, the team can develop a safe and sustainable method of increasing dietary intake of VA. This provitamin A biofortified (i.e., enhanced) yogurt can support VA status and benefit the health of populations in India who consume yogurt as a staple. Moreover, the bacteria strain can be produced inexpensively, freeze-dried into a room-temperature-stable powder, and seamlessly integrated into existing yogurt production cycles. As L. casei is common in many different fermentations processes, this strain could be adapted for use in many other human and animal food sources. Once this strain becomes established in a fermentation system, it will self-perpetuate to ensure a sustainable source of dietary β-carotene.
Saidia na Mazao: A Solution to Post-Harvest Losses in Nanyuki, Kenya
Many small-scale farmers in Kenya lack access to adequate storage facilities that could keep their produce fresher, ultimately reducing high post-harvest losses while increasing their earning potential. This project will lease refrigeration space to farmers in Nanyuki, Kenya at a fair price and in an ideal location while using low-cost solar energy. The Saidia na Mazao initiative plans to purchase three solar-efficient refrigerators and install them in a rented space equipped with solar power technology. Transportation in these areas can be erratic; often short distances can take longer to cover and, as a result, produce spoils in-transit. Agricultural traders with trucks and cold storage facilities use this fact as an opportunity to underpay farmers. This project’s goal is to ensure small-scale farmers regain control by providing them with an easily accessible stopping point where they can safely store their perishable produce.
Impact Evaluation Made Easy and Affordable
Impact evaluation is increasingly being used to determine the effectiveness and success of development interventions. This project develops an impact evaluation software kit that allows small organizations to evaluate themselves, measure impact and collect data, to meet their targets, and stay competitive for funding among larger, more mature organizations. This project will increase the effectiveness of NGOs by easing the design, implementation, and analysis of meaningful impact evaluation through a streamlined, easy-to-use, e-tool that includes impact evaluation design, data collection, and data analysis functions. This will be achieved through software that combines two innovations: an easy-to-use interface that guides the impact evaluation design and the integration of tools into a single platform.
Foodful.ly
In this time of plenty, many throw out their food ¬ mostly because they do nott know how to cook it, or they do not remember what they have bought. Foodful.ly works to stop food waste by addressing these two use problems – tracking food purchases using e-receipts and sending spoilage reminders and recipes with cooking tips. This project proposes a solution that tracks food purchases, models food spoilage, and simplifies meal planning. Foodful.ly is a web service and mobile application that, when associated with a credit card or email, tracks food purchase from the point of purchase using increasingly available electronic receipts. These electronic receipts are parsed quickly to a user’s inventory, and users are alerted when items are most likely to spoil according to independently developed spoilage algorithms. Recipes are sent to users based on learned preference and cooking experience level that uses these likely-to-spoil foods, minimizing the amount of food waste and time spent planning meals. This will ultimately result in health benefits and cost savings for users, as well as more time to spend living fully.
The Biodiesel Project
The goal of the Biodiesel Project is to provide UC Berkeley with a sustainable means of acquiring biodiesel as a cleaner, alternative energy source for use in campus vehicles and equipment. This self-sustaining initiative will provide a fulfilling hands-on experience for Berkeley engineers, educate Berkeley students about renewable energy resources, and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. This will be accomplished through the recycling of waste cooking oil (WCO) from local campus dining facilities. The process involves filtering the recycled oil and producing biodiesel product through a chemical reaction. The biodiesel product will then be stored and made ready for campus distribution. Ultimately, the project will not only make UC Berkeley a more sustainable campus, but also will also educate and inspire the Berkeley community to turn towards green energy and sustainability.
BallotPath
Voter disenfranchisement is at an all-time high. From national offices all the way down to local school and water boards, people are frustrated with their elected officials. BallotPath is leveling the playing field so that the average citizen can understand who currently represents them and how they can run for office. People enter their address on BallotPath’s website where they can see all of their elected representatives, from dogcatcher to President, and how they can replace these officials. The BallotPath team intends to leverage its working prototype for California into a network of universities across the country that will collaborate to curate the data. By first building the prototype to function for Contra Costa County, then covering all of California, BallotPath plans to raise additional capital to go national and then open the API to paying customers.
(Note: This project originally won in the Big Ideas “Conflict & Development” Category)