Southside graduates help beat drought in Kenya

TWO Southside engineering graduates are hoping their innovative new design can help improve the lives of people living in the world’s most impoverished areas.

DIT students Brendan Beattie (24) from Rathmines and Thomas Carrigg (22) from Dun Laoghaire have returned from a “life-changing” trip to Kenya after they and another graduate won a competition through Concern Worldwide to design creative solutions to help those experiencing real-life, humanitarian problems in the developing world.

Brendan, who is a past pupil of St Mary’s College in Rathmines and Thomas, who is a past pupil of Clonkeen College in Blackrock, travelled to Marsabit, northern Kenya last month along with Sean Byrne from Greystones, to install their project ‘the Modified Air-Drop System’, which condenses the air’s moisture into much-needed water.

The innovative project has the potential to provide safe, clean drinking water in areas that are prone to drought.

“The original ‘air drop system’ concept came from Australia using electrical components,” Brendan said. “We thought the idea could be easily implemented in Kenya if we removed the electrical components and used more accessible materials like plastic barrels, wood and ball bearings.”

“The main design was based around being adaptable to the components available. The main issue with electronic components was that they require constant monitoring and maintenance. By removing them we were trying to minimise the requirements of the device,” Thomas added.

Brendan explained: “It was not difficult to make these adjustments however constructing the components while working in the heat proved to be quite difficult when compared to building it here in Ireland.”

The judges saw the potential of the design and awarded the newly-qualified engineers first prize at an event in Dublin last June, which was attended by Tanaiste Joan Burton.

Following consultation with Concern representatives and local government, two prototypes are currently being tested by engineers at a water compound site in Marsabit and at DIT in Dublin.

Brendan and Thomas took part in ‘Where there is no Engineer’, a design initiative coordinated by the Development Technology in the Community (DTC) Research Group with Engineers Without Borders Ireland that is funded by Irish Aid and delivered in partnership with Concern Worldwide.

“It was great to feel part of something so worthwhile and our lecturer Liam McCarton was very hands on and supportive of our project, which made a world of difference.

“The feedback we got from the engineers in Kenya and Ireland was amazing. We hope to get test results back soon and we are looking forward to taking the next steps with the design,” said Brendan. 

“It was also nice to see Engineers Without Borders keeping updates on our progress on social media. Communicating from there to Ireland was quite difficult so it allowed people at home to keep track of us,” added Thomas.

Raheny-based Davies Suppliers has agreed to sponsor the competition for a second year running and the winners of this year’s ‘Where there is no Engineer’ event will jet off to Nepal and use the current problems and associated challenges that Concern is facing in the earthquake-stricken country, as the context for their design.

The pals encouraged all engineering graduates to give this year’s exciting competition a go.

Thomas said: “The competition is definitely worth it. It you want to work on a project where you are free to pursue whatever course you want which is very interesting. It is also great to learn about areas that are less fortunate than us and work towards helping them.”