Objectives

First, international understanding: We aim to establish a solid line of communication and good will between the UMass Lowell community and the people of Huarmey. This is a project which requires the support of people on both ends, and creative solutions from both sides. If this becomes simply a line of "charity" flowing from the United States to Peru, we’ve failed to meet our goal.

Second, an exploration of solar power use in the Andes: We want to work together on problems of engineering and economic development, especially in the field of solar power. We want to discover in what ways solar power can be used in remote Andean communities to improve the quality of life of the residents, and to stimulate economic activity in the community.

Third, service-learning: to integrate academic subject matter formally with service in what is being called "service-learning" in the literature. This project affords the opportunity to provide service-learning formally to the solar engineering graduate program and to undergraduates in engineering through capstone design courses. The impact of technology on social, environmental, and economic aspects of people's lives is quite obvious in this project. We (students, faculty, staff) also all learn how to design and manufacture/assemble systems that must work in remote environments. In the future we hope to have students, faculty, and staff from disciplines other than engineering involved and to have solar graduate students get more formal training and course credits (in psychology/sociology, for example) for this learning experience.

Fourth, local economic development and jobs: Several previous students in the solar engineering graduate program have started companies to transform solar energy in rural areas to produce electricity for some of the 2 billion people with no electricity in the world and to dry crops for improved product quality and added rural income. Some of our present graduate students may go on to provide similar services in other countries. There are two companies in the Lowell area that provide solar energy systems in Central America. One was started by UML students/graduates. We have been collaborating with these companies for some time. The PerUML Project provides training for students to work for these companies, adding strength to the local economy while providing basic human needs in developing countries.

We want to work slowly, analyzing each step before moving on, developing a model of cooperative, sustainable economic development that is appropriate to both UMass Lowell and to Huarmey. We want to work with the personnel and technological resources which already exist in both communities.

Most important, we want our impact to last - if we go and put in a bunch of systems, never training local people, letting the systems fail one by one, we will have made a negative impact. Slow, sustainable progress is far preferable to rapid, out of control installations.