"These are the cities of tomorrow, The average stay today in a camp is 17 years. That’s a generation. In the Middle East, we were building camps: storage facilities for people. But the refugees were building a city. I mean what’s the difference between someone in Philly and somebody in a refugee city? We have to get away from the concept that, because you have that status – migrant, refugee, martian, alien, whatever – you’re not allowed to be like everybody else."
Figure 1. A Syrian refugee waking around the Al Zaatari camp.
Therefore, Mridul and I decided to incorporate engineering technologies towards finding a resolution to such an unfortunate situation. The research entitled " Replacing camps with permanent intelligent houses for refugees". Engineers are charged with finding solutions to make things work reliably, prevent failure and achieve the desired results for the population being served. In my view, this same scientific mindset can be effectively applied to international security and peace keeping.
My immense interest comes mainly from being born and raised in the Middle East, a region that is suffering from constant conflict and is very volatile. That being said, there shouldn't really be a huge gap between engineering principles and applying them towards humanitarian aid, nor should be a large gap between developed countries and regions recovering from civil wars. Furthermore, my strong liking to innovations and technology, especially 3D-printing, is going to help us towards seeking an innovative solution.
In an article I read, China was able to built 10 houses using 3D-printing technology in just 24 hours! This is a clear indication of how important this industry is, and especially it's role in the near future. A private firm called "WinSun" managed to build 10 houses in just 24 hours using the 3D-printing technology. I addition, what was shocking was that one house can be printed, yes printed, for as little as $5,000. I don't see any reason why such thing can't happen in other less fortunate regions. It's truly fascinating how technology is rapidly developing, however what is the point of all this if only part of the world is privileged enough to be part of this amazing development while others do not.
We, Mirdul and I, understand that there are number challenges we have to overcome when conducting our research. First, the isn't really much established in the literature about tuning temporary settlements into a permanent one, therefore, would be very hard looking into effective methodologies of implementing such policy. Furthermore, another challenge would be, whether the 3D printing technology is capable enough to build houses for an entire village. However, we look forward into addressing these challenges and that it won't be a problem.
References :
1- http://www.trueactivist.com/revolutionary-3-d-printer-can-build-10-houses-in-24-hours-and-for-only-5000-each/
2-http://thefreethoughtproject.com/average-stay-refugee-camp-17-years-expert-camps-the-cities-tomorrow/
Comments:
Janet : I believe Drexel should absolutely consider that, as we students are suffering from only having on library to go to. Furthermore, it gets very crowded towards the end of the term and sometimes halfway through the term. Using Revit is very helpful and I anticipate you won't face unsolvable problems, however as you mentioned, one must consider Revit's limitations to come up with high quality work. Good luck
Cristian:
What you are doing is exactly what engineering firms need to do more often. In a world of wars, famine, and unbalanced distribution of resources, other entities must be involved to alleviate the horrendous conditions of certain places. I really enjoyed reading through your post, and I believe it's of a great importance, In light of Latin-American political issues with land distribution.
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