Meticulous design
Seven years ago, the PBS series Frontline World profiled American philanthropist Trevor Field, who was trying to assist with water scarcity in rural South Africa. Field and his collaborators introduced a new type of pump: one operated by a playground roundabout that stored clean water in a large tank covered in billboards to pay for its maintenance. As a result of the new “play pump,” children had a new place to play and the whole village gained access to clean water on demand. Woodward Yang, Gordon McKay Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, played the Frontline video clip at a Design Solutions Workshop hosted by the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) on May 3. “How many of you think that was a good design?” he asked his audience at the end of the clip. Almost every hand in the room shot up. Yang then played a second video. The Frontline producers...