Solar Cooker Team in Nicaragua

Solar oven team

Solar Cooker Team members traveled to Nicaragua over spring break to work with the Solar Women of Totogalpa.

Xochitl Cruz, Jocie Kluger, Emma Lejeune, Meghan Hilbert, Alex Huang, and adviser Tim Bond, who manages the the Harry E. Bovay Jr. Civil Infrastructure Laboratory Complex, visited Las Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa and Grupo Fenix in Sabana Grande, Nicaragua during spring break (March 16 through 25).

The team is a project of Engineers for a Sustainable World. The trip capped off the students' work in senior lecturer Francis Vanek's CEE 3090 "ESW Solar Oven Project."

Lee Fritz and Jenna Morse of Calm Dog Productions accompanied the group and are working on a documentary about the projects. Karen Holway, a skilled furniture maker, joined the team in Managua for the third year, lending her considerable skill and talent.

The primary intent of the project this year was to design and build prefabricated cookers for easy shipment. The standard cooker is 30 inches square (exterior), 12 inches high and weighs roughly 60 pounds. It is effective, but not easy to ship, especially with its heavy and brittle double-glazed top.

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