B4, Group C- Mridul Chulet

Description of project: The average stay in a refugee camp is more than 17 years that is a whole generation living in very undignifying conditions. Therefore, as the world, and technology develop, solutions must be sought. Hamad and I are going to examine the issue from both a humanitarian perspective and most importantly from an engineer's perspective.  Highlighting the problem and its effect on the world. Furthermore, we want to introduce a solution for the housing of refugees. We plan on using the 3D printing technology to build a permanent city for them and which can later be implemented for use in underdeveloped countries for better housing.  

Why chosen: My interest in this topic was fueled by Hamad. He shared an article with me which talked about the refugees from Syria who are currently housed in the Al Zaatari camp. As civil engineers we thought what in the best interest can we help with refugee crisis. Furthermore, I thought providing permanent houses which last longer and are hygienic than the current camps would be a good start to help the refugees.

Relation to IB: 3-D printing is the process of manufacturing three dimensional solid objects from a digital file which is achieved using additive process. With the increase in popularity of 3-D printing, it is nowadays been adopted by big companies because of benefits such as cheap manufacturing, quick production, less wastage and better quality. Using a 3-D printer is really easy and affordable nowadays. For instance, 3-D printing is so easy that you can print anything you want. Whether its shoes, mobile case, toys, utensils etc. You just have to look up for the design on the internet, save it digitally and print. The main reason we choose 3-D printing for building the houses was because it possible to build houses using a 3-D printer. In the article we read, china was built to 10 houses using 3-D printers in less than 24 hours. Therefore, with the advancement in technology on a daily basis, we will soon be able to build high-rise building and what not just by digitally saving the data and printing it using the 3-D printer.  

Challenges: The main challenges we think we will face will be the legal challenges. It would be easy to implement the 3-D printing technology in the area where the refugees currently reside. Also it would be really difficult to obtain information to carry out case studies for our research so we can make intelligent suggestions for the camp. Furthermore, implementing the 3-D printing technology to build house would be a very big challenge because we wouldn’t know how long or durable these houses would be.

References:

1.       http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/08/3d-printed-houses_n_5773408.html

2.   http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v308/n5/full/scientificamerican0513-44.html

3.     http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e486566.html

Comments,

Hatim,

Great project. I didn’t know concrete mixing would be of great importance until I read your post. I totally agree with you that concrete mix for high rise can be crumb some sometimes and may delay the construction process. Using 3-D printing technology would decrease the construction time and would be cheap. I and Hamad are using the similar technology for building houses using 3-D technology for the refugees and which can be implemented for underdeveloped countries too.

Laura Hill,

I really liked reading your post. I and Hamad are using the similar technology for building houses using 3-D technology for the refugees and which can be implemented for underdeveloped countries too. I am really interested in reading your paper and how 3-D printing can be help for different building materials such as wood fragments, concrete, alloys and plastic. Furthermore, I also believe AI will play an important role in the 3-D printing technology in the coming future.