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The "Leary 2 Pass Thresher" was shipped to my house so we could start the project to refine the next generation device before shipping it off to Mali for field testing. It received good marks from the USDA testing facility, but was in need of refinements.
After the first meeting, we moved the operation to Jeff Held's garage. It was still cold, but at least he had a real workshop...
Pearl Millet Thresher. This will be the first official OneLab project.
3 friends, 2 months, 1 cold garage...
Everything has to start somewhere...
I was attending the "Better World by Design" conference in Providence, when Dr. Bernard Amadei, founder of Engineers Without Borders, asked the audience this question.
What am I going to do about it? Why am I waiting for permission?
In the summer of 2008, I flew up to Minneapolis to see the "Design for the other 90%" exhibit at the Walker Art Center. I spent the day looking at projects that focused on helping the 4 billion people at the "base of the pyramid" and at the reception that evening, stumbled into a conversation with a very friendly woman about Compatible Technology International, the local non profit she worked with. When I explained where I worked (big R&D company) and what I was trying to do (start a socially responsible design initiative) she invited me to visit CTI's offices the next morning and meet the great people who work there.
The next morning, I had the pleasure of meeting the folks at CTI, and learning about all the projects they have ongoing around the globe.
Here I was, a total stranger who took it upon himself to find a way to get to Minneapolis just to see the show at the Walker. One person with access to thousands of expert designer and engineers, looking for a "pilot" project to test out an idea.
Here they were, a small but passionate non-profit, looking for ways to get their ideas "commercialized"...
Chance meeting?
...I dont think so...
In fall of 2007, on a break from an international design conference in San Francisco, four designers sat around a table and talked about what inspired them. It was clear that they were tired of the direction their profession was headed, tired of hearing about how to design a better "tooth brushing experience" and other shortsighted methods to get consumers to "need" things. However, one presentation struck a chord. This presentation focused on the power design could have to change the world, help those less fortunate, and begin to undo the damage our profession has caused by filling the globe with irrelevant items.
We sat across from each other, and in that moment decided we wanted to be part of the change.
While those four designers no longer work together, casualties of "reductions in force" and short term financial fixes, the commitment they made over pizza and beer carries on. We are all on our separate paths now, but they seem to be heading in the same direction.
Everything happens for a reason, but sometimes you don't understand why until you are standing in the middle of it...
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