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D-Lab Scale-Ups is pleased to announce two gifts to D-Lab that will make possible new areas of exploration: one from Grameen-Jameel Microfinance and another from Greif, a multinational industrial packaging company. We look forward to sharing the results of these projects with the wider development community.

Meanwhile, we are actively working with MIT's Industrial Liaison Program to build an Industry Consortium interested in aligning with MIT programs, such as D-Lab, in tackling global poverty issues.

The second Scaling Development Ventures conference is shaping up to be an exciting meeting of social entrepreneurs of all stages of development and members of industry, government, and nongovernmental organizations. We are pleased that Paul Polak will deliver the conference keynote address. Paul is the co-author of the new The Business Solution to Poverty praised by Bill Clinton as "One of the most hopeful propositions to come along in a long time . . . original, ambitious, and practical." 
 
Finally, read on to learn more about our newest Scale-Ups Fellows!
SCALE-UPS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Research: Facilitating access to livelihood technologies in Morocco

Scale-Ups completed a qualitative needs assessment in Morocco with support from Grameen-Jameel Microfinance in spring 2013. Now, with increased support from Grameen-Jameel, we will embark on a multi-year study including an evaluation of solar lighting and affordable energy products followed by a technology development process for appropriate solutions in the agricultural processing sector.

Research: Water transport, storage, & treatment in East Africa

Given the time requirements and the detrimental health effects of transporting water and unsafe storage in the home, there is a need to alleviate the burden of carrying water over long distances and difficult terrain, and improve household storage technologies. This research, made possible by a gift from Greif, will help understand issues faced in transporting, storing and treating water in Kenya in an efficient and healthy manner. 

MIT Industrial Liaison R&D Conference

Scale-Ups was recently invited to exhibit at the MIT Industrial Liaison Research and Development conference. Scale-Ups works with industry and organizations to develop projects that respond to strategic needs in the developing world creating social and economic value. Our expertise includes culturally sensitive needs assessment, technology development in partnership with local innovators and users, and product evaluation for long-term sustainability. Read more. Download flyer.

Engaging Industry on Global Poverty Issues

On February 7, D-Lab, with the assistance of the MIT Industrial Liaison Program, will bring together representatives from industry to discuss aligning with MIT to create a positive social and economic impact on people living in poverty around the world. We look forward to strengthening MIT's global impact by building a mutually beneficial, industrial consortium. For more information, contact D-Lab Scale-Ups program director Saida Benhayoune.

SCALE-UPS FELLOWSHIP NEWS
New Scale-Ups Fellows: MIT and IDDS Alumni
Our newest cohort of Scale-Ups Fellows includes MIT alumni as well as alumni from the International Development Design Summit (IDDs). The IDDS alumni Scale-Ups fellowships are made possible by the International Development Innovation Network, headquartered at D-Lab and funded by USAID's Higher Education Solutions Network. This is an exciting opportunity for two important D-Lab programs to work together to bring promising poverty-alleviating technologies to market at scale! Read on for more information about the fellows.
New Fellow: Danielle Zurovcik - Wound-Pump

During her doctoral studies in Mechancial Engineering at MIT, Danielle Zurovcik began work on the Wound-Pump, a simplified negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) device that provides an NPWT option that is affordable, easy-to-use, extremely portable and purely mechanical - operating without electricity or battery power. The Wound-Pump system was applied in the field during the Earthquake Relief Effort in Haiti and during a phase I study in Rwanda. Read more!

New Fellow: Suprio Das - Zimba (IDIN Fellow)

Suprio Das and the Zimba team have developed a device that

addresses the problem of safe drinking water for the 2.3 billion people who depend on shared drinking water sources. Zimba automatically mixes chlorine into water in the correct proportions, regardless of the flow rate of the water, and can be fitted to a rural community's existing water source, such as the hand pump of a well, the tap of a rainwater harvesting cistern, or the faucet of a piped water system. Read more!

New Fellow: Zubaida Bai - JANMA Clean Birthing Kit (IDIN Fellow)

The JANMA clean birth kit, created by ayzh, provides women with all the components recommended by the World Health Organization for a safe and hygienic birth, using environmentally friendly and culturally appealing materials, all for a cost of $2. The kit contains simple tools to provide sanitation and sterility at the time of childbirth, which not only saves the lives of mother and baby, but also helps ensure a healthy and happy start to life. Read more!

Scale-Ups Blog: MoringaConnect/Kwami Williams

"In June, I packed my bags, tools, prototypes, and plans and set off to Ghana for a three-month pilot of MoringaConnect's operations. It is now December and I am still in Ghana. Reason? It was undeniably clear that I cannot build a venture in Africa for Africans without being in Africa and I knew the time to take that step had come." Read blog. MoringaConnect sources organically cultivated seeds at a fair price from smallholder farmers throughout West Africa to supply quality cold-pressed moringa oil to formulators of personal care products worldwide.

Scale-Ups Fellows in the News
The Tech Awards, a program of the Tech Museum of Innovation that recognizes innovators from around the world who are applying technology to benefit humanity, created this excellent video explaining the Wecyclers program. Check it out! 
The Leveraged Freedom Chair won a Siemens Stiftung "empowering people" award, given for appropriate technological solutions that enable the sustainable improvement in the supply of basic needs in developing countries. Read more!

SCALING DEVELOPMENT VENTURES CONFERENCE UPDATES
Session & Registration Information

The MIT Scaling Development Ventures conference brings together exciting perspectives from the international development and business communities to examine the best way to bring poverty-alleviating solutions to market at scale. Session I is titled "Appropriate Solutions to Real Needs." Session II focuses on "Partnering for Scale." A third session has been added on "MIT Alumni Making an Impact." And don't miss the MIT student poster session! Conference details here.

Paul Polak to Deliver Keynote Address at SDV

D-Lab Scale-Ups is pleased to announce that Paul Polak, widely regarded as the father of market-centered approaches to development, will deliver the keynote address at the Scaling Development Ventures conference. Paul is the author of Out of Poverty, and The Business Solution to Poverty (2013 with Mal Warwick), described by Bill Clinton as "One of the most hopeful propositions to come along in a long time . . . original, ambitious, and practical." Read more.

 
Keeping Up with the Harvest Fuel Initiative
The Harvest Fuel Initiative website is a great resource not only to keep up with the social enterprises participating in East Africa, but as a source for interesting news and blogs, and an active forum for anyone with an interest in biomass fuel alternatives and clean-combustion technologies. Recent topics have included wood tar recovery from branch charcoal, how to increase heat output , and charcoal briquette binder.
A joint project of D-Lab Scale-Ups and The Charcoal Project.
About D-Lab Scale-Ups

Located at D-Lab, MIT's fast-growing and highly regarded educational and technology development program, Scale-Ups was created to identify and support technology-based ventures with potential for wide scale poverty alleviation.

  

Since launching in 2011, D-Lab Scale-Ups has established a fellowship program for MIT-affiliated social entrepreneurs, a technical assistance program for social enterprises in the developing world, as well as a program that identifies technology development and dissemination projects in collaboration with companies which have both a social

mission and wide distribution channels in Base of the Pyramid markets. A new D-Lab class, Design for Scale, is running this fall.

  

Scale-Ups Fellowships Projects Past & Present

 

 
 
Harvest Fuel Initiative Charcoal Enterprises 

  

 
Scale-Ups was created in 2011, with generous support from Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives (ALJCI), to identify and support technologies with potential for wide-scale poverty alleviation. 

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