Date of Award

Spring 5-2014

Access Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Committee Chair

Marc Compere

First Committee Member

Yan Tang

Second Committee Member

Charles F. Reinholtz

Abstract

This manuscript style thesis presents a community development model developed at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) to deliver sustainable water purification systems and originate a companion micro-business to sell excess clean water in communities in Haiti. Since 2010, students and faculty from ERAU have partnered with strategic partners to not only provide clean water to their in-country operations but also provide an opportunity for economic growth through a clean water selling micro-business. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) training is also implemented to aid in community buy-in. Lessons learned from the history of foreign aid to developing countries is taken into account but it is the lessons learned from implementing the model that the project has been able to improve significantly year after year. This model is a short-term, focused, and specialized approach that has a well-defined process and has proven to be successful and is described throughout the thesis and in the conference paper in Appendix C.

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