MIT students do some real innovation

Regular readers know I am not too enamored when MIT brags about enabling solar power by electrolysis or transmitting magnetic fields without electric ones, but I have to tell you, the kids are OK, a Christian Science Monitor article gives examples of three projects done by students at MIT and I consider them not only more innovative, but also more practical than what most grownups are doing.

The first idea, a charcoal crusher for third-world countries is great because it comes from answering a real need that was observed in reality, as opposed to a professor diddling around with a computer simulation and then looking for an application. Perhaps I like it just because it is more of an engineering project than science one.

The second idea is a kid that noticed that the patents were expiring on old 8-bit video games and developed one to make incredibly cheap computers that hooks to a TV. This “walk-before-you-run” approach seems like a good idea, since it allows third-world family to add onto existing technology, the TV, as opposed to sending them a hand-crank laptop that may be too big a technological leap to handle.

The third idea, a way to do a little energy harvesting from treadle operated water pumps is also inspired, coming from a marketing need rather than that a technical ability. Bringing light to the poor, very literarily, is what makes this idea so inspiring.

An interesting subtext in all this is that many of the very bright and very middle class MIT students come from countries that have poverty and hardship, so they were personally aware of the problems and were motivated to use their MIT experience as a way to make their home countries better. This is what is so great about America and its melting-pot legacy.