Students develop low-cost water filtering system for African
nationJanuary 10th, 2013 in Technology / Engineering Penn State
School of International Affairs students Kory Hansen, Jin Ju Kim
and Andrea Grzybowski with residents of the Children and Youth
Empowerment Center in Nyeri, Kenya. (Phys.org)—In an effort to
bring fresh water to rural Kenyans, School of International
Affairs (SIA) students Kory Hansen and Jin Ju Kim participated
in Penn State's Humanitarian Engineering and Social
Entrepreneurship (HESE) program to develop a ceramic water
filtration system for parts of the sub Saharan African nation.
Every year, 3.4 million people die from lack of access to fresh
water globally. In East Africa, daily routines include women
venturing miles to secure fresh water, and bearing the heavy
weight of water containers to secure less-than-desirable water.
Hansen and Kim, replicated a ceramic water filter design from a
nonprofit organization, Potters for Peace. The goal was to use
no more than two people, $200, and