International Development Design Summit

Fernando de Oliveira Gil

Mariana Negrao — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:18:58 +0000

Fernando is a computer engineer from the University of São Paulo, where he is currently pursuing a master’s degree in electrical engineering. He is also a Sustainability Designer from UMAPAZ. Fernando is the founder of AUIRE: Accessible Technologies, where he is developing a color and money identifier. He was a professor at the Centro de Paula Souza, a researcher with the Security Analysis Groups (GAS-USP), and a member of the Poli Cidadã commission. He works in the fields of assistive and social technologies. He worked on projects for rural and urban low-income communities in Sao Paulo, Tocantins, and Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil in partnership with MIT’s D-Lab. In 2007 he won the “Ser Empreendedor” award. Fernando was an Unreasonable Institute Fellow and a guest speaker at TEDxAmsterdam in 2010.

Mariana Negrao

Mariana Negrao — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:55:02 +0000

Mariana Negrão graduated from the University of São Paulo with a degree in electrical engineering. She currently works in medical device development. She was a participant at IDDS 2008 in Boston, where she contributed to the development of a low cost infant incubator. She was also a participant at IDDS 2011, where she was on a team that sought a way to charge cellular phones in villages without electricity in rural Ghana . She learned of IDDS through a college project in partnership with MIT D-Lab in 2008 in an indigenous town in Mato Grosso do Sul and has since been engaged in the international development field. As an undergraduate, she was part of Engineers without Borders Brazil and was also on the organizing team of the National Meeting of Engineering and Social Development (ENEDS) in 2008.

Ana Luisa Santos

Mariana Negrao — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:47:53 +0000

Ana Luisa Santos graduated from UFRJ (Brazil) in electronics engineering. She has master’s degrees in media technology from the MIT Media Lab and electrical engineering from Coppe/UFRJ. Since 2007, her experiences in international development have included leading an MIT D-Lab team during their field work in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil; acting as an advisor in the Humanitarian Technology Challenge Project, an IEEE and United Nations Foundation initiative for the development and dissemination of social technologies; and developing solutions for the reuse of waste vegetable oil in collaboration with waste-pickers in Sao Paulo as part of the MIT Green Grease Project, which won an award in the MIT IDEAS Competition in 2012. Ana is a co-founder of mob376.com, a company targeting the education market with mobile technology solutions.

Brasil inquiries

IDDS — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:32:51 +0000

Email us at:

IDDS 2012 begins!

Mariana Negrao — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 02:27:27 +0000

It’s time to announce the next step of IDDS! In 2012, IDDS will be held for the first time in Brasil and also for the first time it will be organized by a local team.

In addition, IDDS Brasil will be the first to focus on urban communities. We will work closely with partner communities in the favelas of Sao Paulo.

Through the IDDS spirit of co-creation we are looking forward to developing people and technologies to improve the quality of life of people living in poverty. We will be working closely with the communities of Sao Paulo to identify the problems that will be tackled during the summit. In the spirit of empowerment, we hope to develop the notion that anyone can be innovative and develop technologies.

For the summit, we are looking for participants with different backgrounds. We look for students, professionals from various fields, people from low-income communities and from developed countries, we look for teachers, doctors, engineers. We look for people with or without formal education. We seek participants from Brazil and abroad. This way, we intended to create an environment of innovation to address problems of developing countries.

During the summit, each team will be responsible for creating a prototype or solution to specific problems identified by partner communities, and they will be exposed to a network of organizations, entrepreneurs and institutions to support their projects so that they may continue beyond the weeks of work during the summit.

In addition, during the summit, we will promote numerous opportunities for participants to share their experiences with the group and the community. Through public events we want to reach a large number of people who can attend open classes and lectures.

IDDS Brasil will be a model for the future. In 2013 there will be multiple locally organized IDDSes in other regions around the world.

We are working hard to make IDDS Brasil an incredible event that further grows and engages the IDDS community in the use of innovation as an instrument for social change.

To apply as an international participant for IDDS 2012 Brasil, click here: http://iddsummit.org/apply. The international application deadline is 12 February 2012. There will be a separate application for Brazilian applicants which will be available in March.

Finding Appropriate Technologies to Help the Poor

IDDS — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:44:26 +0000

Minnesota Campus Connect, Center for Digital Civic Engagement, 29 Sept 2011 More →

IDDS — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:09:34 +0000

Maker Faire Kumasi!

IDDS — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 22:50:25 +0000

Rayshawn Whitford, Blog for Babson College, 4 Aug 2011 More →

KNUST Deepens Ties With Suame Magazine

IDDS — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 22:47:04 +0000

Ghana News Agency, Ghana Government Official Portal, 16 Aug 2011 More →

From the Field: IDDS Reflections

IDDS — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 22:45:31 +0000

Kathryn Padgett, Community Water Solutions Blog, 7 Aug 2011 More →