Workshops

Today stared off by a presentation by Crossman Hormenoo on shop safety, and a slideshow of his shop in Ghana. Then we broke up into groups and did hands on workshops based around skill set's individuals were interested in. I ended up in a workshop that had sheet metal bending, water jet cutting, riveting, and spot welding as the main skills. The goal was to duplicate what a metal smith in Peru had done (in a day) to make a Corn Dekerneler out of local materials rather than an injection molded part. [photos as soon as I get them to upload, having problems]

Some of the people from IDDS last year, who are not Organizers of the event, shared with us some presentations of the work they have done since then. Miguel Chaves shared with the group information on Engineers Without Borders in Brazil. He wants to raise the level of communities, while also getting participants (both in and outside the community) to learn from the experience. Tombo Banda presented a pedal powered cassava rapser that she was inspired to work on after seeing pedal power in IDDS 2007.

The day ended with a trip a local bar, where Jessica's (one of the IDDS participants) friend's band was playing. They did a Melodica, which makes them cool in my book. There was also lots of good conversation going between participants, which is what this is event is all about. How can Cal Tech and Art Center collaborate more, and bring a business school in the mix for a triumvirate of thought and execution? What is the allure of math, and how is it the fine art of scientific world? What are the lives like of different classes of Guatemalan people?