Posts by Lauren Dokes
July 27, 2010
Two Rotarians from the Wadsworth, Ohio Rotary Club, Dan Selby and Karl Elsass, along with two Rotarians from the Brunswick, Ohio Rotary Club, Stan Socha and Jack Young, recently had the opportunity to partner with Salud Del Sol to assist with the installation of two solar lighting systems developed by the Solar Center in the small village of Sabana Grande, Nicaragua.
“Our experience was amazing, there is a huge potential and opportunity for renewable solar energy in developing countries”, according to Dan Selby. Selby and Elsass also had the opportunity to live with host families in the rural villages during part of their visit.
“We are very thankful for continued work and support that Salud Del Sol has done for the people of Sabana Grande. Their mission is much like that of Rotary International with an ultimate goal of making the world a better place for everyone to live and enjoy,” said Selby.
June 30, 2010
Currently there are three designs of the solar autoclave that are being pursued in Nicaragua and a growing number that are being pursued at MIT.
The first design is the original design using two cafeteria food trays clamped together to create a pressure vessel. The problem with this design was keeping the gasket from blowing out and releasing whatever pressure had built up. The team in Nicaragua has taken measures to modify the edge of the two trays to prevent the gasket from blowing out during pressurization. More testing is taking place to determine if this modification helps to solve the gasket problem.
The second design being tested is the University of Dayton (UD) design which involved a steel tube with a sealed end and a steel cap on the other end held on by two rods and bolts. This design allows for two to three autoclaves to fit inside one solar oven.
The third design involves a purchased pressure cooker that is placed inside a solar oven. Because of the size of the pressure cooker a new solar oven is being constructed.
The team at MIT is working on continuing to develop both the cafeteria food tray design and the UD autoclave. Their work will help Salud del Sol to determine which design will be the best option to implement in rural clinics throughout Nicaragua.
June 30, 2010
Some of you may know that we gained two new teammates-Chris Weiss and Matt Pittinger. And we gained a “teammate-in-law”-Lori married Alex McIlvaine, her high school sweetheart of Wadsworth, Ohio. So that means she has a new name and email address: lori.mcilvaine@saluddelsol.org. Since the wedding, she has been enjoying her new job as an environmental engineering consultant with Tetra Tech, Inc. in Lexington, KY, where she does a variety of things, including assisting companies and other organizations to meet EPA regulations. This is her first time living in a “big city”-or at least big compared to Wadsworth, Ohio!
Lauren also recently started a new job, as an Auditor with Rotary International in Evanston, IL. She’s excited about the possible networking opportunities this will bring! The new job meant a quick, crazy move, from which she is still recovering ever so gracefully, all while still taking care of our finances here at Salud del Sol. She was crucial in our filing for non-profit status, and she also did a lot to facilitate the Wadsworth Rotary Club’s recent trip to Nicaragua.
Daniel continues his education in Europe, where he is loving playing Ultimate Frisbee, hiking, and touring the areas around Liverpool. He is doing well in his Aerospace and Materials courses, and he’s starting a dissertation project investigating airwakes created by frigate ships. He didn’t leave his volunteer-spirit behind when he went, as he has recently became involved in a charity called Link Community Development (LCD) in Liverpool, an organization devoted to raising educational standards for underprivileged children in many African nations.
Anna has been busy busy busy in Boston, working as an R&D Officer at the Innovations in International Health (IIH) program at MIT and serving as a research mentor for undergrads in the D-Lab Health class there. She also has been traveling, participating in an Executive Education program through GIFT (Global Institute For Tomorrow) in Hong Kong and Indonesia, learning about social enterprises and collaborating with other young professionals to write a business plan for cocoa farmers in Aceh, Indonesia. She also traveled with MIT undergraduate students to Ecuador as a trip leader, disseminating different appropriate technologies. AND she made time to run the Disney Marathon in January with the Distance 4 Dreams group from UD, in support of a child from A Special Wish Foundation and in memory of fellow UD graduate Dan Hauber.
Chris has been working as a Mechanical Design Engineer at ACS Industries in Ohio, working on construction equipment attachments. He loves having the chance to use his creativity to design products that meet the customer’s needs. He also recently passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam, making him officially an “Engineer in Training.” Outside of work, he has been training diligently to hike part of the Buckeye Trail.
Matt spent months volunteering and climbing around the Red River Gorge, Kentucky-our token team “wanderer”-whether he was climbing because he happened to be volunteering there, or volunteering there so that he could climb, we’ll never know. Since then, he has been working for Clough Harbour and Associates as an energy engineer. He especially likes the fieldwork, where he is able to go into buildings and identify opportunities for energy savings.
June 19, 2010
Today, June 19, 2010, is Solar Day!
Salud del Sol, Inc. is a proud partner of Solar Day. Solar Day is an international day that was designed to bring awareness about solar energy, clean technology, and sustainability. Visit http://www.solarday.com/ for more information and to find out ways you can get involved.
July 4, 2009
Hola y Bienvenido a mi Blog!
After a year of being strongly encouraged by my business partners- Anna, Dan, & Lori, I have finally agreed to blog about my experiences with Salud del Sol,Inc. For those of you who do not know a lot about me, I am the Director of Finance for Salud del Sol, Inc. Last summer while everyone had the opportunity to spend time in Nicaragua, I was working on the forms for us to be established as a non-profit organization- a very time-consuming process that will hopefully be recognized within the next few months.
Currently, I am at the airport enroute to Nicaragua with Anna. I am looking forward to our trip and to the many opportunities we will have to network, to share our passion for Salud del Sol, Inc. with others, and to be immersed in a new culture.
Thanks for visiting, and please stay tuned for upcoming posts and pictures about my experiences in Nicaragua and with Salud del Sol, Inc.
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