Connie Cheren, is a nurse and a social worker with over forty years of experience in healthcare and eighteen years of experience working in East Africa.
She is the founder and president of Partners for Care, a non-profit organization that employs staff in Kenya to address public health concerns.
PFC upholds the principles of local solutions and sustainability in its approach. Their working tenets emphasize empowering individuals to take responsibility for their own well-being rather than relying solely on external assistance.
In our actions when serving others, we must critically evaluate whether our intentions are benevolent or detrimental.
It is crucial to identify the unforeseen consequences of our interventions and strive to provide assistance without inadvertently causing harm to those we seek to help. While our intentions may not be malicious, it is essential to acknowledge that our actions can sometimes have unintended negative effects. The speaker will delve into the conventional mission approach and share firsthand experiences of the harm that can and does occur when we fail to consider the potential consequences of our actions.
To learn more, go to:
https://www.partnersforcare.org
Virtual reality (VR) has been the 'next big thing' for decades, but only in the past few years has the hardware and software come together to make this a reality.
REM5 STUDIOS is a leader in creating and executing 'VR' experiences at scale that deliver results and lasting impact.
For the past 24 months, REM5 has been embedded with the Gates Foundation and GPEI partners to produce two award-winning experiences, 'Polio's Last Mile' and 'Apporter La Vie,' that take stakeholders to the front lines of the fight against polio.
These experiences have been shown to tens of thousands around the globe, including the past two Rotary International annual conventions. Today, we'll discuss the impact immersive experiences can have on changing hearts and minds and connecting more than ever to the mission.
Our speaker, Brian Skalak, has been with REM5 STUDIOS for the past six years. He has been instrumental in filming and producing the VR documentaries 'Polio's Last Mile' and 'Apporter La Vie - Delivering Life' and has shown them at the past two Rotary International Conventions and events around the world.
To learn more, go to:
Every day, more than 500 million women and girls live without access to menstrual supplies. This often forces them to use unsafe materials that put their health at risk and cause them to miss school or work.
With menstruation lasting about 3,000 days over a lifetime (more than 8 years), this challenge is not only a matter of health but also one of equity, dignity, and opportunity.
Days for Girls (DfG) wants to change that. Since 2008, DfG has reached 3.5 million people in 145 countries with sustainable menstrual health solutions and education. Through holistic approaches such as their Period Positive Schools and Workplaces initiatives and women-led social enterprises, DfG is building scalable impact that transforms lives and strengthens communities. In this presentation, Days for Girls CEO Tiffany Larson will share powerful stories of change, highlight the connection between menstrual health and gender equality, and share how we can all work towards a world where periods are never a problem.
Our speaker, Tiffany Larson, leads Days for Girls International as CEO focusing on dignity, equity, and opportunity for all. A passionate advocate for menstrual health and sustainable development, she has over two decades of experience blending business acumen with a heart for global impact. Her leadership is grounded in the belief that access to health and education is a human right, and that lasting change starts at the community level.
Before becoming CEO, Tiffany held several executive roles at Days for Girls, including Chief Operating Officer and Chief Program Officer, each shaping her holistic and inclusive approach to global leadership.
To learn more, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe5eEoSiW-M
How does Zack Curran, our speaker, describe his work with the San Jose Barracuda?
"As a proud member of the American Hockey League, our mission is to cultivate a welcoming, family-friendly environment where every fan feels at home. We are committed to offering an affordable, intimate, and uniquely engaging game-day experience. Through meaningful connections with communities across the South Bay, we strive to make every visit to The Reef feel inclusive, memorable, and deeply rooted in a sense of belonging.
"Our goal is to build a community that feels like family—one that inspires fans to return game after game, season after season, to their home away from home.
"The vision of the San Jose Barracuda is to make a lasting, positive impact within the dynamic and ever-evolving world of hockey. By embracing emerging trends, expanding group experiences, and setting ambitious goals for the future, we aim to elevate every aspect of who we are—as a team, a fan base, and an organization. At the heart of this vision is our celebration of the game of hockey and our unwavering belief that hockey is for everyone."
Our speaker, Zack Curran, is coming into his third season with the Barracuda, working closely with local community groups, schools, and season ticket holders on events and special games. We'll learn how those connections make the games more exciting and simultaneously make the larger community a stronger one.
To learn more, go to:
https://www.instagram.com/sjbarracuda
https://www.facebook.com/sjbarracuda
https://www.youtube.com/@SanJoseBarracuda1
https://www.tiktok.com/@sanjosebarracuda
To learn more about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, go to:
How can advanced medical technologies - once reserved for elite hospitals - now be made accessible to everyday communities?
Our speaker will introduce a procedure called endoscopic ultrasound, or EUS, which allows doctors to see deep inside the body to diagnose conditions like pancreatic cancer and liver disease. Traditionally, this equipment is too expensive for most hospitals and outpatient centers, even in the United States.
Here, we'll learn about a breakthrough that dramatically lowers the cost, without sacrificing quality. This innovation is helping to level the playing field in healthcare - making life-saving diagnostics available in rural hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and even in developing countries.
Our speaker, Dr Stephen Steinberg, is a physician-inventor working to close the gap in access to advanced medical care, both in the U.S. and around the world. A graduate of Cornell and Johns Hopkins, Dr. Steinberg has spent over 40 years advancing the field of gastrointestinal endoscopy.
Dr Stephen Steinberg's work centers on endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) - a powerful but traditionally expensive imaging technology. As co-inventor of a breakthrough device that dramatically reduces the cost of EUS, he is helping bring this life-saving procedure to hospitals, outpatient centers, and underserved regions that have long gone without.
Dr Steinberg will also share stories from the frontlines of medicine, his journey as a physician-inventor, and why he believes technology must serve people - not the other way around. This talk is designed to inform, inspire, and highlight how local communities can benefit from global innovation.
Now based in South Florida as Director the Center for Advanced Therapeutic Endoscopy, Dr Steinberg continues to blend hands-on patient care with innovation and mentorship. His goal is simple and urgent: to ensure that cutting-edge tools are not limited by geography or income, but made available to every community that needs them.
To learn more, go to:
Endoscopic Ultrasound: Benefits & What to Expect (patient oriented) Johns Hopkins:
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/endoscopic-ultrasound
EndoSound's website, describing our efforts:
Approximately two billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water, negatively impacting national security, hygiene, and agriculture.
Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is the conversion of ambient humidity into clean water; however, conventional dehumidification is energy-intensive. Improvement in AWH may be achieved with elastocaloric cooling, using temperature-sensitive materials in active thermoregulation.
Potential benefits, compared to conventional desiccant wheel designs, include substantial reductions in energy use, size, and complexity. Elastocaloric cooling is a promising advancement in dehumidification, making AWH more economical and feasible.
John LaRocco is part of the Les Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University, and is an accomplished neural engineer, artificial intelligence specialist, and independent researcher with a diverse international background. He has worked on projects spanning automation, AI, medical technology, forensics, archeology, and magazine publishing. He worked with Prof. Qudsia Tahmina and John Simonis to develop a range of prototypes, including an elastocaloric water harvester.
Qudsia Tahmina is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The Ohio State University at Marion. She earned her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2016. Dr Tahmina’s research spans digital signal processing techniques to improve speech intelligibility and auditory prosthetics such as cochlear implants, secure embedded systems and brain-computer interfaces using EEG for non-verbal communication. She also investigates machine toolchain algorithms, speech synthesis, and collaborates with medical schools on behavioral clinical trials and biomedical research. Committed to educational excellence, she has expertise in outcomes assessment and ABET accreditation processes and was honored with a teaching award in 2024 for her dedication to student success.
To read their peer-reviewed paper on this topic, go to:
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/12/10/178
Project Tumaini (Project Hope) is a long-term effort by the Outreach Program to install water purification systems into Primary Schools in rural Tanzania.
The project provides safe water to a student for a full year for just $2. Over the last three years, the team has installed systems into 31 schools, supplying 24,000 students with safe water.
Their current goal is to install systems into 96 primary schools in the Mkalama district to provide another 64,000 students with safe water.
Our speaker, Isaac McNary, is Vice President of International Development for The Outreach Program, a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide safe water, food, medical care, and education to children and those in need at home and abroad.
He has been fighting hunger since 2009, when he volunteered for his first packaging event. In that time he has facilitated the packaging of 60 million meals with the help of 150,000 volunteers from across the US. In 2019, Isaac expanded his focus to international safe water issues and has provided access to safe water to over 40,000 people in Africa.
Isaac is also a dedicated Rotarian. He has served as President of his club, Assistant Governor, District PolioPlus Chair, and is currently the District Governor Elect for District 5680 in Kansas and holds the distinction of being the youngest DG in the district's history and the shortest time from joining Rotary to becoming a DG, 7 years and 7 days. He is a member of the Paul Harris Society, PHF +5, and had the honor of having one of his projects featured in the End Polio Now booth at the Rotary International Convention in Houston in 2023.
To learn more, go to:
https://outreachprogram.org/clean-water/
To donate to the project, visit:
https://outreachprogram.org/2-heart-club/
SLICE 325 is a nonprofit using immersive education, food literacy, and sustainability to empower all communities with a focus on those historically underserved.
Led by SLICE 325's founder Shemecka McNeil, you'll learn how SLICE 325 combines hands-on cooking, virtual reality, and environmental education to address chronic disease, food insecurity, and digital inequity. Their approach uses scalable, evidence-based strategies that merge cultural knowledge with health outcomes and climate resilience.
We'll explore how SLICE 325's initiatives like VR classrooms for older adults, culturally inclusive cookbooks for managing diabetes and hypertension, and no-power-needed storm survival guides are educational, transformative, and accessible. With a proven track record of community-driven impact, SLICE 325 offers a replicable model for anyone seeking to invest in innovative, culturally grounded, and inclusive approaches to learning, wellness, and sustainability across all communities.
Shemecka McNeil has a deep understanding of the relationship between food and health. Growing up in a family with a long history of preventable health conditions, she developed a passion for promoting good health through a nutritious diet. With over a decade of experience in the health sector, Shemecka speaks about the importance of healthy eating for overall well-being. She founded SLICE 325, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating low-income individuals and families on how to create healthy meals using affordable ingredients.
Shemecka's expertise extends beyond health education; she is also a trained chef, healthcare professional, farmer, subject matter expert, immersive learning educator, and author. Her varied skill set allows her to approach health and nutrition from a variety of angles, making her a resource for anyone seeking to improve their eating habits and overall health.
As the Executive Director of SLICE 325, Shemecka is committed to making a difference in the lives of others, one meal at a time. She believes that every family is unique and that there are countless creative ways to prepare healthy meals that are both delicious and affordable.
Shemecka's dedication to promoting health and wellness has earned her recognition as a PSA Grower and a Paul Harris Award from Rotarians. She is an inspiration to those around her and a true advocate for healthy living.
To learn more, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/@SLICE325/videos
https://www.spatial.io/s/SLICE-325-2025-6838356d7096556e2726a879
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shemecka-mcneil-els-sme-gap-a83941198/
https://www.instagram.com/slice325/
Sport in Mind describes itself as "the leading mental health sports charity in England and Wales."
Its mission is to transform people's mental health through sport and physical activity, working in partnership with the National Health Service and sports governing bodies, and harnessing the power of sport to inspire, educate, and promote good mental health.
Our speaker, Craig Adams, is Sport in Mind's head of partnerships. After spending eighteen years working in big tech in both the US and Asia, Craig was introduced to Sport in Mind's founders via a common friend. Being a huge sports fan, and participating in a number of sports, whilst also having his own mental health story, the opportunity to marry up passions with helping others was for him the perfect fit.
Outside of work Craig enjoys exploring new countries and cultures, is obsessed with golf and the Liverpool football club, and enjoys experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen.
To learn more, go to:
https://www.sportinmind.org/strategy-and-impact
What makes for a good life?
Is it the simple, predictable pleasures we call happiness?
Or can happiness lead to complacency and regret? Is the answer a deep sense of meaning and purpose?
Or can a life of purpose invite narrow or misplaced loyalties?
Shige Oishi is the Marshall Field IV Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 2021, he also received the Outstanding Achievement Award for Advancing Cultural Psychology from Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
The Psychological Review paper on a psychologically rich life he co-authored with Erin Westgate received the 2022 Wegner Theoretical Innovation Prize. His research has been featured in major media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times.
To learn more, go to:
https://psychology.uchicago.edu/directory/Shigehiro-Oishi
CARS works with over 10,000 nonprofits and raises over $60 million a year in fundraising through turn-key vehicle and real estate donation programs.
Our speaker is Howard Pearl, the Chief Executive Officer of Charitable Adult Rides & Services (CARS), a national leader in vehicle donation programs for nonprofits.
Howard Pearl has over three decades of executive experience and a Harvard Business School education, and has worked with organizations like Johnson & Johnson, Ford Motor Company, and Revlon to implement transformative strategies.
To learn more, go to: https://careasy.org/home
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is one of the most pressing threats to our oceans, devastating marine ecosystems and wildlife while undermining the livelihoods of sustainable fishers.
For over two decades, WildAid has partnered with local leaders worldwide to improve marine protection and enforcement.
WildAid CEO Meaghan Brosnan and Skylight Head Namrata Kolla explore how cutting-edge AI technology is transforming the fight against IUU fishing. Learn how Skylight’s AI-powered vessel detection platform is helping governments take decisive action—like the recent seizure of six illegal longliners in Panama—and discover what’s next for the future of ocean protection.
Meaghan Brosnan is a global expert in marine enforcement with more than two decades of experience combating illegal fishing and supporting communities in sustainably managing marine protected areas. A retired U.S. Coast Guard Commander, she spent two decades in service, including four years at sea enforcing fisheries law. Meaghan joined WildAid in 2017 as Marine Program Director and became CEO in 2024, following the organization's receipt of Prince William's Earthshot Prize in the ""Revive Our Oceans"" category.
Namrata Kolla (Nam) leads the Skylight program at Ai2 (Allen Institute for AI). She has held various positions in the conservation space for over ten years, including as Data Scientist for the Mayor of Seattle, as Research Consultant for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and in various roles at The Nature Conservancy. She has a Master's in Public Administration from the University of Washington, with a focus on the application of data science to improve public service.
Learn about WildAid's marine program:
More about Skylight's technology:
Mongabay's coverage of Panama's momentous seizure:
Our foster care system is in need of complete reform in order for children in care to have a more humane experience.
Rob Scheer knows that the first step is for our community to realize there is a problem. There are far too many people who have little to no knowledge of the struggles children in foster care face.
These children are truly invisible in our society. Not only must we raise awareness of their plight, but we must come together to alleviate their suffering. We must ensure that the basic needs of children are being met as they enter into care. Despite the frightening and chaotic transition they are experiencing, these children deserve to have a sense of dignity as they are moved to another home.
We must also realize that we are simply graduating foster children from the foster system to the prison system. We are not providing these children with the educational and life skills required to launch a successful future. If this is correct, we must realize the responsibility that each and every one of us holds to take care of these children and ensure that they have an equal opportunity for success in adulthood.
Rob Scheer, is the founder and CEO of Comfort Cases, an international nonprofit dedicated to bringing dignity and hope to youth in foster care. His and the organization's mission is clear: to eliminate the heartbreaking and dehumanizing practice of children being handed a trash bag to carry their belongings when entering the foster care system.
Since founding Comfort Cases in 2013, Rob and his team have distributed over 260,000 backpacks and duffle bags filled with essential and comforting items to youth in every U.S. state, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and The Bahamas.
Rob's passion for this mission is deeply personal. He was once one of those children—a youth in foster care who was given a trash bag. His personal journey runs from experiencing foster care to homelessness to becoming a successful businessman, advocate, and father of five children, all of whom came from that same system.
"To learn more, about Comfort Cases or make a donation, go to:
https://comfortcases.org/
You can also visit their social media pages:
Instagram: @comfortcases @Rob_scheer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/comfortcases
TikTok: @comfort_cases @robscheer.comfortcases
X / Twitter: @comfortcases @RobScheer6
To listen to the podcast, "Fostering Change," please visit YouTube or any of your favorite podcast channels, or on their website:
We gave four AI agents a computer, a group chat, and an ambitious goal: raise as much money for charity as you can. Since then we have learned a lot about how AI agents cooperate with each other and the humans around them. Join us to learn more about where they succeeded and where they floundered, and what this might mean for the surprisingly near-term future of human-AI society.
Agent Village: How AI Can Do Good and How It Can Do Better
Our speaker, Shoshannah Tekofsky, has a BSc in Cognitive Science, an MSc in Computer Science, and a PhD in Player Modeling in Video Games. Her past research was at the MIT Media Lab and the European Space Agency. She is an experienced data scientist and manager in large corporate and small startup contexts, with expertise in Video Games, Education, Analytics, and AI. Ms Tekofsky is currently a member of the technical staff at AI Digest.
AI Digest creates demos and explainers of the most important trends in AI, presented visually, and grounded in concrete examples of what AI models can do right now — to help you plan for what’s coming next:
https://theaidigest.org/village
This episode has a number of visuals that are in the video version which can be seen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3fbnO3K6fxKt9pfaTp8mYn or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/W-gSoOwsBOY
We believe the message is an important one, even if you do not watch the video, and hope that you will enjoy this and every episode of our series.
Public libraries are an essential institution in the educational, cultural and literary life of its people. By definition, public libraries democratize knowledge and learning by welcoming all, without prejudice.
However in India, caste, class and gender are powerful barriers that have kept a majority of the people outside the doors of the library. The public library system, which should have democratized knowledge, has become a means by which it is gatekept.
Now, across India, a group of grassroots individuals are working against tremendous odds to create libraries for the people which are free, anti-caste, and inclusive of all. This collective is proving that reading is not dead, physical books and reading spaces are urgently needed, and that if there is a threat to reading, it is lack of libraries, not interest in the community. Today's presentation will tell the story of this grassroots library movement, its history, and the exciting way ahead.
Purnima Rao is a library activist from India and the first director of Free Libraries Network. After spending 15 years making documentary films, in 2015, she became involved with a group of educator activists that built free public libraries for marginalized and historically excluded communities in India. This was a radical grassroots initiative in a country where caste, class, and gender prevent millions of Indians from accessing books, reading programs, and finding opportunities for lifelong learning.
In 2020, the pandemic brought much of the country's education system to its knees, and nowhere was this more apparent than in India's poorest and most disenfranchised communities. Purnima was then tasked by a group of librarians to develop and drive a pan-India collective that would shed light on the vital role that informal, grassroots, community-led libraries play across the country.
Shivam Singh, aka Kranti Ke, has been a member of the community library project since 2014 and has handled various roles along his journey. Shivam is also a rapper and a part of a duo rap band called 10TAKK, which means ""knock."" He has written songs for the community, and loves the chance to serve in this way. Shivam is a BTech student and likes working on cool projects with the help of AI.
To learn more, go to:
Official Website: https://www.fln.org.in
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@freelibrariesnetworkfln3274
"Rural is Resilient: Rebuilding the Appalachian Economy from the Ground Up" is a presentation by Coalfield Development that explores how community-driven innovation, workforce development, and social enterprise are transforming central Appalachia.
Once a region known for powering the nation through coal and industry (yet often left behind in terms of reinvestment and opportunity), Appalachia now faces deep economic, environmental, and health disparities. Coalfield Development reverse-engineers solutions to these challenges by empowering people who have been cast aside, revitalizing places that have been left behind, and building long-term prosperity.
This presentation outlines Coalfield’s workforce development model, which integrates on-the-job training, personal development, and business incubation. Through training and employment initiatives like PATH and WRAPS, social enterprise development, and partnerships with organizations replicating their approach across the region, Coalfield has created over 1,000 jobs, supported 91 new businesses, and attracted more than $178 million in new investment. By turning abandoned mine lands and buildings once considered liabilities into assets to serve their communities, and equipping individuals with the tools to secure gainful, stable employment in a variety of industries, Coalfield is proving that rural communities can, and are, rebuilding the Appalachian economy from the ground up.
Our speaker, Jacob Israel Hannah, began work as Coalfield Development’s new CEO in January of 2024. Previously, Jacob held the role of Chief Conservation Officer at Coalfield Development with over five years in the organization. With three generations of coal mining in his family, and as a 5th generation West Virginian, Jacob integrates an empathetic and grounded approach to the strategy of triple-bottom line sustainability; balancing People, Planet, and Prosperity in harmony with each other with a lens towards a fair and just transition.
Jacob’s work intersects the through line of environmental considerations with social wellbeing and economic development. This primarily revolves around bringing renewable energy to underserved and coal-impacted communities, reclaiming abandoned mine lands, supporting a regional network of upcycling and reuse, and remediating brownfields and protecting water systems, all while centering this work around the people of Appalachia.
What do you know about stuttering? If you aren't someone who stutters, do you know the things you should do when you meet a person who does?
Today you'll hear from someone who can explain from his own experiences what stuttering is, the characteristics of one who stutters, and common myths about stuttering.
Our speaker, Jeff Olevson, is the current president of the Sunnyvale Rotary Club and has been a Rotarian for almost twelve years. Outside of Rotary, Jeff has been involved with the National Stuttering Association (NSA) for over twenty-four years.
The NSA is the largest self-help group in the country for people who stutter. Locally, Jeff is the co-leader of the San Jose Chapter of the NSA (a monthly support group for people who stutter) and is also the Regional Chapter Coordinator (RCC) of the Southwest. Members of the chapter share experiences about their stuttering journeys and seek support to guide them along the way. Jeff has a passion for sharing the NSA and helping others better understand stuttering.
To learn more, go to:
Desalination is a critical tool for addressing water scarcity, yet conventional renewable-powered desalination systems rely heavily on energy storage, increasing cost and complexity. In this talk, our speakers will present a novel control strategy—flow-commanded current control—for enabling direct-drive photovoltaic electrodialysis (PV-ED) with little to no energy storage. Their approach maximizes real-time energy utilization, achieving high water production efficiency while reducing and eliminating the need for energy storage.
Findings from a six-month field deployment of a fully autonomous, community-scale PV-ED system in New Mexico demonstrated 94% energy utilization while reducing energy storage requirements by over 99% compared to typical PV desalination systems. These results highlight the potential of PV-ED to provide cost-effective, decentralized water treatment for resource-constrained communities and its broader implications for sustainable desalination at scale.
Jon Bessette is a PhD candidate within the K. Lisa Yang Global Engineering and Research (GEAR) Center at MIT. His research is focused on the development of desalination and water treatment systems for resource-constrained environments: from off-grid communities in India to agriculture in the Middle East. Bessette earned a BS from the SUNY University at Buffalo (2020) in mechanical engineering with a minor in studio art, and an MS (2022) from MIT in mechanical engineering. Bessette is a former Fulbright scholar (2017), Critical Language Scholar (2019), Marshall Scholar finalist (2020), and NSF GRFP recipient (2020). He received the International Desalination Association Innovation Award (2023) for his work in batteryless photovoltaic desalination, is a part of the inaugural Morningside Academy for Design at MIT (2022), and is a J-WAFS Rasikbhai L. Meswani Fellow for Water Solutions (2024).
To learn more:
Organizations
https://gear.mit.edu - The Global Engineering & Research Center
https://kira.eco - A company spinout commercializing this work
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44221-024-00314-6 - The associated journal article
Press
People
https://meche.mit.edu/people/faculty/awinter@mit.edu - Amos Winter faculty profile
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanbessette/ - connect with Jon here!
https://jwafs.mit.edu/people/jonathan-bessette - J-WAFS profile for Jon
This talk will describe how the K. Lisa Yang Global Engineering and Research (GEAR) Center at MIT is creating technologies that are global by design. This entails spotting and quantifying meritorious problems, leveraging engineering science to create high-performance, low-cost solutions, and engaging a wide network of stakeholders that are positioned to catalyze adoption and dissemination.
The following research projects will be highlighted: 1) Time-variant photovoltaic-powered electrodialysis (PV-ED) desalination systems that continually vary pumping and salt extraction power to match available solar power. Compared to industry standard grid-powered reverse osmosis, GEAR Center’s PV-ED systems are at price parity and reduce water wastage by 75%. 2) Ultra-low pressure, low-cost drip irrigation emitters that were realized by characterizing fluid-structure parametric design relationships.
GEAR Center’s emitters cut pumping power by up to 69%, reduce the cost of solar-powered irrigation by up to 40%, and require 58% less plastic than current products. 3) High-performance, low-cost plastic prosthetic feet created by predictively and quantitatively connecting their mechanical design to biomechanical performance. GEAR Center’s feet facilitate near-able-bodied biomechanics and perform as well or better than industry-standard carbon fiber feet that cost up to 100X as much.
Amos Winter is the Germeshausen Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the Director of the K. Lisa Yang Global Engineering and Research (GEAR) Center at MIT. His research focuses on machine and product design for developing and emerging markets.
Prof. Winter earned a BS from Tufts University (2003) and an MS (2005) and PhD (2011) from MIT, all in mechanical engineering. He received the 2010 Tufts University Young Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award, the 2012 ASME/Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal, was named one of the MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35 (TR35) for 2013, and received the MIT Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award and an NSF CAREER award in 2017. Prof.
Winter is the principal inventor of the Leveraged Freedom Chair (LFC) developing-world wheelchair, which was a winner of a 2010 R&D 100 award, was named one of the Wall Street Journal’s top innovations in 2011, received a Patents for Humanity award from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2015, and was the subject of “Engineering Reverse Innovations”, winner of the 2015 McKinsey Award for the best article of the year in Harvard Business Review.
To learn more, go to:
GEAR Center's website: https://www.gear.mit.edu/
GEAR Center's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mitgearlab/?hl=en
This week is the first week of the Rotary year, and we'll hear from Rushton Hurley, the incoming president for '25-'26 and also the charter president from '15-'16.
The program is about a third the length of our typical offerings, but Hurley hopes that the focus on what you experience in Rotary that is meaningful to you - your Rotary story - is one that makes you happier personally and more effective professionally. He also hopes you will share your story in the coming months with others wanting and/or needing opportunities to serve others.
For the last two decades and change, Hurley has run Next Vista for Learning, a company focused on fostering and highlighting creative approaches to teaching and learning. He is also the Director of Innovation for Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo - both jobs he loves, and that he does better because of his experiences with Rotary.
To learn more about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, go to:
https://rotary.cool