Engineers at play

Believe it or not, this is a picture of the controlled chaos of a creative technical work. For the last five years, R&D engineers at EMI Uganda have been at play on a number of unique problems. We went behind the scenes to learn more and meet the team.

They were occupied with a curious blue box...

Recently the R&D team has been working on evaluating a water purification box invented by EMI Volunteer Engineer Paul Berg. The team is designing a research study in conjunction with a Ugandan university that will field test the system in selected villages.

Instead of the common domestic practice of using wood fuel to boil water, the gallon of water inside the Water Box is purified by ultraviolet light. A few minutes of this light - powered by hand-cranking or by a wall outlet - is enough to kill off unwanted bacteria for potable drinking water consumption.

This research study will help guide the development of this appropriate technology product before it goes to market.

And behind unique projects like these, there’s a unique EMI R&D team:

Daniel Propst has roots in East Africa as a missionary kid. He’s been part of R&D since the beginning, and enjoys the challenge of problems at the intersection of missions and engineering.

“The individual colors, shapes, and shades of a single puzzle piece hold their own interesting complexities and beauties. How much more complex, beautiful, and satisfying is it to see many unique puzzle pieces, placed in the exact right relation to each other, come together to build a much grander picture? I find each ‘R&D puzzle piece’ fascinating, with its intrinsic beautiful and a micro-lens to see aspects of our Creator. I also enjoy glimpses of our Father combining thousands of unique puzzle pieces, including a few small R&D pieces, in His masterful Kingdom-building work.”

Experimenting with different roof panel designs — One notorious design problem has to do with heat and noise resulting from metal roof systems. This is experimentation apparatus for study of radiant heat transfer through different roof panel designs.

Graph of temperature performances across the day — Temperature performance of different systems across the day. Lowest green baseline is the ambient air temperature in the shade of a tree. A ‘sandwich’ of multiple aluminum-zinc sheets obtained results approaching tree-shade.

Repurposed shipping container — Recently, this R&D study was applied in the repurposing of a 40’ shipping container. The container was commissioned by International Justice Mission (IJM) for the Uganda police Gender-Based Violence Unit at Kibuli, Kampala.

Container retrofitting — The container was retrofitted with a number of innovative features, like this solar ventilator. With R&D input in design, the office and interview space is protected from extreme heat, as well as acoustically private.

Container installed — The retrofitted container Interview Block installed on site at the Kibuli police compound. The grand opening was in September, 2021. All photos courtesy EMI R&D.

Dr. David Wituszynski came to EMI during PhD studies in Ecological Engineering, ‘pretending’ to be a Civil Engineer. Now, as an EMI fellow, he’s found a community of people to problem-solve with.

“I love the creativity and flexibility that comes from working in R&D: I have such a variety of projects which are all interesting in their own ways, and I’m challenged to come up with unique solutions. The fact is that nobody knows if the solutions will work – my job is to find out! The diversity in projects also means I’m constantly learning with the help of my colleagues. I’m also grateful to work with student teams: recent graduates from Uganda Christian University, and a student team at George Fox University.”

Smoke inside kitchens — Another notorious problem is in the cookhouse. This is the scene at many institutional kitchens in Uganda: Wood-burning fires with smoke inside the space cause problems for staff health and hygiene.

Vermiculite grout mixture — R&D experimented with vermiculite grout mixtures to provide maximum heat transfer and insulation, as well as the best stove and chimney geometry to reduce the wood fuel required and evenly heat the large cooking vessel.

Data showing different stove materials and fuel types — Apparatus data showing the different stove materials and types of fuel used to heat water. This analysis allowed the team to propose the best design solution for the Amazima Primary School cookhouse.

Prototype stove — The prototype stove was introduced to cooks from Amazima, who lit a fire and brought water to boil at the EMI facility in Kajjansi. Their feedback was used to refine the design for on-site installation.

Stoves installed — Fuel efficient wood-burning stoves being installed at the Amazima Primary School cookhouse in July, 2021. In this design, wood is fed (at a much lower rate) from the outside of the building, rather from within. All photos courtesy EMI R&D.

Bruce Arensen was immediately attracted to the work of R&D at EMI. Now, he is using his experience an Aerospace Engineer in the context of solving Majority World design problems.

“R&D excites me because of its long term impact. Much of the work that we do impacts all of EMI’s projects through optimized materials and improved building methods. I love being able to use my mechanical engineering skills in a way that helps people. I’m also excited about bringing the impact of new technology (e.g. 3D printing) to projects that are helping people who need it the most. I really hope the R&D program can raise up local engineers and designers who can take advantage of these new technologies.”

R&D is new to the EMI playbook and aims to influence not only EMI design but the construction industry at large.

This year, EMI is raising funds to enable R&D to grow into a dedicated space of its own—the same place the Construction Workshop began in.

The container facility will be repurposed as R&D’s new home—with offices, labs, and an experimentation floor. It will be a place to explore and be curious: to better understand materials used in EMI projects, to prototype and find weaknesses before implementation, and to share these results with the larger local industry. A place to study things and discover how to do something better.

Prototype solar kiln — R&D at play on a prototype solar kiln. The kiln is being developed to dry raw timber in the EMI Workshop faster and evenly without creating a fire hazard. Photo by Ivan Hue.

More than that, for the R&D team, this creative chaos is a form of worship to God. It’s about discovering the Creator in the things He has made.

They seek to use that knowledge to improve lives, use resources more efficiently, and preserve the creation. Play on, engineers!

The EMI Fund