To design energy access solutions for rural households in developing countries it is important to have an accurate estimation of what their electricity consumption is. Studies reveal that they mainly use electricity to meet their lighting needs, as they cannot afford high power-consuming...

Access to electricity is typically the main benefit associated with solar panels, but in economically less developed countries, where access to electricity is still very limited, solar panel systems can also serve as means to generate additional income and to diversify income sources. We analyze...

In Kenya, between 2010 and 2015, the number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) connected to the grid increased by over 60%. Despite this substantial increase, little is known about the behavioural patterns or conditions that contribute to increased electricity consumption among these SMEs....

Solar mini-grids are a key element in strategies to achieve universal access to modern energy by 2030. In many settings mini-grids offer a combination of affordability, reliability, and capacity for productive use of power, moreso than most solar home systems and some central grids. Yet the...

Two-wheel tractors (2WTs) are widely used by resource-poor farmers to prepare land in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (EIGP). This paper demonstrates that improved tillage blade design can enhance maize crop establishment under strip tillage, which falls under the rubric of conservation...

Accessing clean water is a persistent and life-threatening challenge for millions of people in the world. Each hour, 400 children under the age of five die because of the lack of clean water. To help people get access to clean ground water, mechanical hand pumps are often used. Among the most...

Social impact indicators provide one effective way to measure the social impacts of products in developing countries and ensure that engineering design is producing positive impacts on individuals. Remote data collection devices enable the use of sensors to collect user data required to...

Conjoint experiments (CEs) provide designers with insights into consumer preferences and are one of several user-based design approaches aimed at meeting users' needs. Traditional CEs require participants to evaluate products based on two-dimensional (2D) visual representations or written lists...

University engineering programs across the USA engage in service learning projects. These projects involve student teams designing and implementing products or solutions for communities in need, often in developing nations. There has been much research done relating to pedagogy and the impact of...

With recent advances in high-resolution satellite imagery and machine vision algorithms, fine-grain geospatial data on population are now widely available: kilometer-by-kilometer, worldwide. In this paper, we showcase how researchers and policymakers in developing countries can leverage these...