Our Projects

The mission of the Mandari Panga Sanitation Practices project is to design a reliable and efficient latrine system and handwashing station using locally available resources. Promoting sustainable sanitation practices aims to improve community health, enhance overall well-being, and support educational development within the Mandari Panga community.

The team has moved from Phase 0, which included creating the project charter, outlining the scope and identifying available resources, to Phase 1. Phase 1 includes evaluating prior research and exploring designs to determine the most suitable solution for the specific needs and context of the Mandari Panga community.

The Mandari Panga Water System aims to provide a sustainable, safe drinking water supply to the community using local resources. The students in the community miss numerous days of school due to stomach-related illnesses from consuming untreated water. The treatment system will capture one of the local springs to provide safe drinking water.

Most recently, the team created documents integral to constructing the WTS, which include construction, operation, and maintenance protocols, soon to be translated into Spanish.

Due to a lack of water resources, people in Haiti must resort to finding water from sources such as rivers, ponds, and waterfalls. Because of this region’s mountainous terrain, this essential task becomes very strenuous and time inefficient. Our goal is to improve water accessibility in developing countries through ram pump construction and information distribution.

A ram pump is a type of device that can move water from a source to a higher elevation without using electricity. Using gravity and a series of valves that control pressure spikes in the system, these pumps can deliver 7 feet of lift for every foot of fall. In order to distribute information relating to the benefits of ram pumps, we are writing a formal manual about them. This manual will include everything that needs to be known about how to implement a ram pum,p ranging from site evaluation to construction and troubleshooting.

The Community Health project was started this semester as a collaboration between Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries and physicians working with the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina. The goal of the Community Health project is ultimately to treat the large number of chronic hypertension cases in the Central Plateau of Haiti. Hypertension can easily be treated with affordable medication that is readily available in the United States. However, this medication is not available to many residents of the Central Plateau.

A program is currently in place in which patients in the Central Plateau are diagnosed with hypertension at health clinics run annually by American practitioners Dr. Harry Morse, Dr. Glen Quattlebaum, and Will Mayo, APRN. Local community health workers called the Agent de Sante, then distribute the patients’ medication monthly and check their blood pressure to make sure their treatment is working. The problem is that the reliability of this method is largely unknown.

The focus of the Community Health project for this year has been on evaluating the current method of distributing the medication. Creating a database to store patient data and track their treatment outcomes will ensure the effectiveness of community health workers. Data such as the patient’s blood pressure, dosage changes, and any symptoms of hypotension will be added monthly to the database. Matching patient data to their identity has been a problem in the past, as many patients do not know their birthdate, and there is a language barrier between patients and practitioners.

Our goal is to reduce the suffering of families displaced from their homes due to natural disasters by utilizing structural origami. Emergency shelters are too costly for widespread use or offer little comfort and privacy.

We aim to bridge this gap by designing an emergency shelter that is both cost-effective and provides greater privacy and protection than cheaper alternatives. The shelters are designed for ease of use and deployment, ensuring they accommodate the unpredictable and unforeseen issues that often arise during emergencies.

A cost-effective, easily constructed, and deconstructed shelter increases versatility, allowing for relocation and adaptable relief efforts. This empowers those affected by disasters, allowing them to deploy and redeploy shelters as needed. Currently in the testing phase.

The Cleo Bailey Project is working to transform an abandoned schoolhouse in Anderson, SC, into a vibrant community center. This project and future community center will address critical issues in the area, such as food insecurity, literacy challenges, and a lack of accessible resources.

Over the past semesters, a two-year project scope was developed, identifying potential funding sources and establishing partnerships with key experts. These key experts have been crucial in assessing the premises and creating the project scope. The project team has partnered with Forensic Engineers, Project Managers, the City of Anderson Council, and the Clemson Carpentry Club to create a comprehensive plan to move forward.

The Clemson Regional Bike Plan team is a new group with a goal of developing a conceptual plan for bicycle-centered infrastructure development throughout the Clemson University Campus and the surrounding area. The need for this project is demonstrated in Clemson’s existing infrastructure, which severely limits transportation options outside of owning a car. This leads to a lack of access for students and staff due to limited alternative options.

The regional bike plan would bypass the limitations of location transportation systems while being able to be constructed chiefly on existing corridors and roads. The team understands the needs of commuters throughout Clemson and how a bike plan could be developed to accommodate them effectively.