28th mayo 2010 Masters student uses pedal power to create novel
machine An innovative bicycle-powered water pump, created by a
student at the University of Sheffield, has proved a huge
success and is now in regular production in Guatemala,
transforming the lives of rural residents. Jon Leary, 24, a MEng
student in the University’s Department of Mechanical
Engineering, took his bicycle machine design from a Steel City
drawing board to the heart of Guatemala as part of his
dissertation, which required him to ‘make something useful out
of rubbish.’ During his four month stint in Guatemala, Jon spent
time improving the design for his bicibomba movil – a mobile
bicycle-powered water pump to be used for irrigation and general
water distribution - by working with the Guatemalan NGO Maya
Pedal, who design and build a variety of weird and wonderful
bicycle machines using abandoned bikes sent over from the US and
Canada. Maya Pedal’s aim is to produce machines which can
improve the daily lives of locals, without them h