Clean Water

March 17th, 2016

I just watched a fascinating documentary about Dean Kamen's latest invention, the Slingshot. Dean is an inventor who works very hard at creating technology that helps people achieve greater quality of life. Among his healthcare inventions are a wheelchair that moves vertically so someone can move up and change a lightbulb or reach a high cupboard. He also has a wheelchair that climbs stairs. You can see him working on prosthetics and he has invented a system that allows people to use dialysis machines in their own home. For more information about this work, check out dekaresearch.com.

Dean is an interesting individual. He lives in a home with secret passageways and a steam engine in the centre of his foyer, he opens a glass wall and leaves his home via his personal helicopter. He is eccentric and passionate. He has chosen not to become a father because he is so committed to his work that he doesn't feel he could really give enough energy to raising a child. He helps children every day through his inventions and contributions.

One of those contributions is a science centre he donated to his community. He noticed children wearing sports jerseys and he asked them if they could name an engineer or inventor. None of them could. He decided to make sciences cool. He launched First, an opportunity for children to create robots and compete against other robots like an athletic event. Students are excited to work with engineers and conceptualize their robot then compete. They gain valuable employability skills and develop a passion for sciences. This was the ultimate goal, to teach math, science, technology and engineering in an exciting way. You can go to www.firstinspires.org to learn about this program.

We all recognize the importance of clean water. We rely on water to stay hydrated and clean, to cook and do laundry. In countries where clean water is not accessible, disease spreads quickly. Dean and his team developed a vapor compression distiller. It has the ability to purify water regardless of the quality of water that goes into the machine. Dean was able to demonstrate the machine's efficacy but he needed help distribution the machine to countries where clean water was not available. He asked medical partners, the WHO, the government and many other organizations whom he thought would jump at the chance to distribute these machines. They were all cheering for him but they wouldn't get involved.

He got a break when the Coca-Cola company agreed to partner with him. He started with 15 machines in schools in Ghana in 2011. The machines worked well but they were heavy and difficult to set up. Also, they realized they would need to educate users who were transferring the clean water to contaminated vessels. This pilot project led to funding for 50 machines to be tested in Central America and Africa. They needed to make the machines lighter and smaller, they re-named it the Alpha model. They learned that each location has its own challenges but they started the Alpha model distribution in 2013.

Dean has a vision. His wish is that we start investing in "weapons of mass construction". If people have access to clean water and they recognize that these machines come from the US, perhaps they can reach a place of peace. I am very excited to see what happens next as each trial leads to more access to this invention.

Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org