SIGUS mounted a display at the 2011 International Development Fair at MIT 30 September. Three projects were presented that are a current focus of SIGUS, and seek participation from students throughout the Institute.
– An "Off-Grid" Elevator for the bayous of Louisiana. The project partners with TRAC, an NGO in the bayous outside of New Orleans, in exploring a practical "off-grid" elevator with solar, wind and kinetic energy sources. The elevators are attached to the Louisiana "Lift House" design by SIGUS and TRAC, an affordable raised house option. Seven have been built, and the design continues to be disseminated.
– Community built center in Haiti. The development of a strategy for using rubble in building ‘Inspiring’ community centers, as a way to ‘jump-start’ the rebuilding process of destroyed neighborhoods.
– Smart Slope Density Calculator. Development of an Android based APP that calculates density at various slope angles. It would be used with an innovative steep-slope building concept in earthquake city rebuilding to be tested in China. he calculator is a part of the SIGUS-Nanjing University project funded by MIT MISTI.
The recent SIGUS student staff were captured in almost life-sized cutouts in the display, each holding one of the three projects. Christopher Malcolm, Cecilia Ho, and Jonathan Crisman.
See Proposal posters