physics

Villagetech Solutions

Villagetech Solutions is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Villagetech Solutions rather than just read about it. In short: VillageTech Solutions began with EcoSystems (Nepal) in 1996, to improve living standards for rural people by creating affordable energy and transport products. VTS creates inexpensive technology by focusing creative talent on problems ignored by commercial investors because the solutions are intentionally easily copied, and the markets are distorted by conflicting cultures, governments, subsidies and real conflict.

Key takeaways

Villagetech Solutions belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Villagetech Solutions to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Villagetech Solutions from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

VillageTech Solutions began with EcoSystems (Nepal) in 1996, to improve living standards for rural people by creating affordable energy and transport products. VTS creates inexpensive technology by focusing creative talent on problems ignored by commercial investors because the solutions are intentionally easily copied, and the markets are distorted by conflicting cultures, governments, subsidies and real conflict. The VTS mission is to apply simple, locally appropriate technology to problems in education, transportation, health and economic development. VTS is the American non-profit offshoot of EcoSystems Pvt Ltd in Nepal, founded by David and Haydi Sowerwine in 1996 to provide ‘energy and transport solutions’ in Nepal where they lived for 14 years. In that time EcoSystems built 38 “WireBridges” across Himalayan rivers to connect villagers with medical care, schools and trade. Since 1998 the bridges have moved an estimated 3.5 million passengers without harm. In 2009 the Sowerwines launched a successor WireBridge builder in Kathmandu, the locally owned and operated: VillageSolutions Pvt. Ltd. VTS won the esteemed Tech Museum Award in 2003.

Rural Education VillageTech Solutions is developing Looma for use in rural schools in Nepal and elsewhere. Looma is an affordable, battery-powered (12V, 55W) audiovisual device that brings a large library of content and enhanced learning media tools to village schools that have never seen electricity, computers, or in some cases, even books. Looma is a small box that contains a computer, 700 lumen projector, interactive whiteboard, and audio system, all in one. Looma projects an image onto a wall, and a simple user interface allows teachers who may be unaccustomed to computers to navigate through screens intuitively using a handheld wand. It comes pre-loaded with textbooks for the country of use and a rich set of multimedia enhancements. Looma’s web browser allows the class to explore the Internet if WiFi is available. The Looma prototype is being used in twelve school in Nepal. Enhancements such as webcam, microphone, and dual-wand control are just a few of the features planned for future versions.

Arsenic Removal from Well Water In 2008 David challenged a Dartmouth engineering student team to take on a social change project. The project was a system for removing arsenic from groundwater in a geology that runs from Nepal to Bangladesh. In April 2009, the team demonstrated their prototype, inexpensive household-scale system that cuts arsenic concentrations to below the World Health Organization standard of 10 ppb and in a region where villagers’ well water often ranges beyond 200 ppb. Confirming the merit of their discovery, the sponsors of the Collegiate Inventors Competition (US Patent Office, Inventors Hall of Fame, and Abbott Foundation) awarded the top prize for USA undergraduate innovators to the Thayer School of Engineering team in October 2009. The arsenic removal system is called SafaPani. VTS suspended work on the arsenic system in 2007 to focus on the Looma project.

WireBridge Project VTS supported the building of 38 WireBridges in Nepal.

The WireBridge is a low-cost shuttle carriage suspended on two or four high-tensile strength wires. This carriage offers all-weather transport, requires little maintenance, poses no threat to children, uses no fossil fuel, provides low-skill jobs, and costs less than a good conventional bridge. The WireBridge is adapted from a business “best practice" transport system developed by the global banana industry. At each end of a bridge stands a tall steel post. The ends of the WireBridge are at exactly the same height. A carriage, holding up to five or six people plus goods, hangs from wheels which roll on the wires suspended between the posts. Passengers and bystanders pull the carriage with a rope. Building a bridge first involves a site survey that includes terrain, traffic levels, other crossing options, supply of local labor and maintenance. In addition, VTS required that there be significant and demonstrable benefits to local villages in the categories of health, education, commerce, and social integration.

WireRoad (Tarbato) In 2004 a prototype pedal powered suspended monorail called WireRoad ("tarbato" in Nepalese) was commissioned, adapting the cableway transport systems already in use on banana plantations elsewhere in the world. Specialised vehicles were built with bicycle components. The system, which has some similarities to the Shweeb, does not seem to have been installed anywhere.

Working with student engineers VillageTech Solutions works extensively with student engineering teams from universities.

Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, University of California, San Diego, Santa Clara University, Stanford University, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

VTS honors, awards and exhibits The Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, California [1] Economic Development Award, 2003 World Bank Development Marketplace Winner, 2006 World Bank Lighting Africa finalist, 2008 Rainer Arnhold Fellows Program, fellow 2005-7 Boston Museum of Science exhibit [2] Engineering is Elementary Collegiate Inventors Competition (US Patent Office, Inventors Hall of Fame, and Abbott Foundation), First Place, 2009

Sources

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Villagetech Solutions

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Villagetech Solutions claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Villagetech Solutions before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Villagetech Solutions ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Villagetech Solutions

In research: Villagetech Solutions appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Villagetech Solutions in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Villagetech Solutions is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Economic development organizations, Nature conservation organisations based in Asia, Renewable energy organizations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Villagetech Solutions outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Villagetech Solutions in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Villagetech Solutions means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Villagetech Solutions out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Villagetech Solutions in simple terms?

Why does Villagetech Solutions matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Villagetech Solutions?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Villagetech Solutions.