"There is engineering in the first world, there is engineering in capital cities of poor countries and then there is engineering in the village." Benson Mutua, director and founder of the Clay International Secondary School, Ngomano, Kenya.

Gravity—that unforgiving force—created an unexpected engineering challenge for three Harvey Mudd College students and their faculty advisor.

The team traveled to a rural Kenyan village this past summer to install a solar-powered electric pump for a water purification system. After only one hour of work on the project, the chain that held up the pipe of the old manual pump broke, causing the essential pipe to drop deep into the water.

"Retrieving the galvanized iron pipe from 50 meters below ground level was challenging," said Evann Gonzales '12, a member of the HMC student club Engineers for a Sustainable World/Mudders Organizing for Sustainability Solutions (ESW/MOSS). The club organized the trip to help improve the water quality at the Clay International Secondary School in Ngomano, Kenya. "It was great learning how to do engineering in a completely different environment than how we learn at Mudd."

"After dropping the pipe, I began to realize what engineering in the village meant; if you needed a tool you’d have to build it yourself," said Isabel Bush '12. "This forced us to think very creatively to come up with designs that were as simple as possible."

Using the limited array of materials available in the village, the team designed three tools to extract the pipe: the "Harpoon of Death," which they lowered into the well to hook the pipe; the "Skirt of Salvation," which was lowered on top of the pipe to guide the "Harpoon of Death" into the pipe; and the "Rocket of Reclamation," designed to sweep the pipe away from the wall and into a funnel that could be pulled to the surface.

The students were able to retrieve the pipe and install a new pump that will extract much larger quantities of water from the well. The pump also proved helpful in removing undrinkable, salty water.

The unexpected challenges turned out to be a blessing, said Professor of Physics Peter Saeta, a former Peace Corps volunteer (Africa) and faculty advisor. "If everything went smoothly, we would be sitting twiddling our thumbs at the end," he said. "Instead we had a great learning opportunity."

The team was then able to turn to their second vital project for the school: wiring a system to provide electric lighting using the additional solar energy created by the pump’s solar panels.

When the lights came on in the school for the first time, the Kenyan teachers and students danced with joy.

"There was an incredible outpouring of emotion that really showed us how we had impacted the lives of these people by providing a service—electricity—which we take for granted," said Rob Best '10. "I will never forget it."

This trip was a follow-up to a January 2009 excursion, during which ESW/MOSS students first constructed the solar still used to purify the school's water. During both trips, HMC students taught classes on solar distillation and solar energy to the teenage Kenyan students. After one such lesson taught by Ozzie Gooen '12, a student took his new knowledge home and hooked up batteries to a light bulb, providing his family with their first reading light.

"Trips like this really enhance learning and understanding what HMC stands for," said Rob Best '10, who is currently studying sustainable cities ("eco-cities") in Asia, Africa and Europe as a Watson Fellow. "We think a lot about how we can impact our own world and often forget that there are other 'worlds' here on Earth where simple efforts can mean a lot."

• Read the Kenya blog for a daily account of the trip.


• Support for the HMC group and their solar distillation project was provided by The Clay Foundation, founded by Leebron-Clay and her husband Jim; HMC’s Shanahan Student-Directed Project Fund; and the HMC 2020 Strategic Vision Fund.


• Learn about ESW/MOSS’s first trip to the Clay International Secondary School in January 2009.