Friday, June 17, 2011

Role Definition

Today we set our work plan for the coming months. Here’s mine in a nutshell:

Stormwater Management
- Prototype stormwater management facility (e.g. bioswale, dry well, etc.) on site.
- Design facilities to handle design storm
- Figure out what the design storm should be
- Define management system for entire city of Anam

Flood Planning
- Refine understanding of existing flood plane
- Determine how to most effectively route flood waters (Anam routinely floods, so it’s more about how to go with the flow than try to control the water)
- Ensure that flood routing system fits with overall city layout

Structural Design
- Develop boardwalk model with local materials (e.g. bamboo, clay, etc.)
- Prototype boardwalk to be functional during flood periods
- Design pedestrian bridge with same constraints
- Prototype pedestrian bridge

Transportation
- Prototype sample road section that will be paved with uncommon materials (i.e. not concrete or asphalt)
- Define transportation network for Anam
- Map transit nodes and street networks
- Design new roadway sections

Energy
- Model anticipated energy demand
- Determine how people want to use energy if they had it
- Decide on what level of service for energy the Anam people will have
- Design system to provide energy
- Provide design details, e.g. transmission lines, locations of plants, size of plants, grid behavior, etc.
- Maybe prototype a 250 kW PV array (that’s pretty big)

Waste
- Assess feasibility of biogas reactor, system behavior
- Provide design details
- Work with Eric to prototype biogas plant that runs of water hyacinth – an abundant weed that chokes the rivers during the rainy season and causes endless troubles for people
- Explore possibility of a biogas autoclave for the hospital



Easy peasy, right? Oh, and all of which must be kept within the societal context of Anam. So, for example, the transportation network can’t just be what I want it to be – it needs to be what makes sense for Anam. What makes people feel like they are free to prosper and have their needs met.

It will be a crazy time. We’ll see how much I complete. Fortunately I have useful tools such as OmniFocus to break down these daunting tasks into manageable pieces.

The university fellows have been invaluable in providing input to our thought processes. They also brought kola nut and pine wine for us to enjoy at the end of the work day.

More people have joined the cult. At one point during Insanity, we had six participants. We lost two – but six people ain’t bad. We’ve moved into the living room for more space.

Introduced some of the interns to Squelch tonight. I love that game. Something about its simple rules, lack of complex strategy, and gambling behavior makes it the perfect game for bonding. Unlike other games (e.g. cards), you do not have much to think about when it’s not your turn, so people just end up talking or living the experience with the current roller. Good times.

Tomorrow we go on a field trip! We will travel to one of the neighboring Anam communities, Iyora, to speak with village members and get more first-hand experience of the Anam way of life.

Time for bed -- after I apply some hydrocortisone cream to my bug bites. Those li'l fuckers are relentless.

1 comment:

J said...

Loads of work..very interesting stuff though...look forward to seeing the end result!