FOUR DESIGN STUDENTSIN SEARCH OF SUPPORTDELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

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FARMERS IN INDIA

INTRODUCTION This project is about designing a low budget windmill for farmers in India. Our team is an international and multidisciplinary design team, consisting of four TU Delft students studying Industrial Design Engineering (IDE).The strength of Industrial Design is that we have strong practical design skills, a broad technological grounding and extensive knowledge of innovation processes. We will combine these strengths and work closely together with the local inventors and entrepreneurs. In this way we will come up with a windmill that is especially designed for the Indian farmer. The windmill will be locally produced therefore creating jobs and the windmill will be easier to repair. By applying this sustainable technology we are aiming to replace the polluting diesel generators that are currently used. With this booklet we hope to provide you with information about the project, our study ‘Industrial Design Engineering’ and the team. Furthermore, we request your support to make this innnovative project happen.

CONTEXTWeather conditions in India are characterized by long dry periods, added to the fact surface water supply are very scarce, FOUR DESIGN STUDENTS

IN SEARCH OF A PROJECTDELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

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THE PROJECT

making agriculture a difficult job to do. A solution to this issue is finding underground water and pump it to the surface in order to use for it for irrigation. In most rural areas there is no power grid, so some pumps run on diesel, in other cases water is pumped by hand, which requires a great deal of human effort and drudgery. Having this solution, people found water pumping could also be used for salt mining. A salt-water mixture is pumped from underground into ponds, water evaporates and salt gets harvested. India is the third largest salt producing country in the world. The state of Gujarat contributes almost 70% of the total salt mining, with an estimated number of 54,000 salt mines. When using diesel-powered pumps, in order to produce 1000 tons of salt, the total expenditure is Rs.1000.000 (€1.600), out of which Rs.60.000 (€950) are spent on fuel. Economic conditions of farmers are very harsh, making their buying capacity very low; this fact is exploited by salt traders, who give the farmers advances for their recurring expenses and then enter a buyback agreement at a very cheap

“This solution came from their own need to pump water in their fields..”

THE HUSSAIN BROTHERS WITH THEIR FIRST PROTOTYPE

rate. The supply chain generated in this business model makes that middle men (traders, transporters and retailers), take most of the profit, being the farmer the most disadvantaged. Mohammad Mehtar Hussain (32) and his younger brother, Mushtaq (28) came with a solution to pump  water, a low-cost, and relatively easy to build windmill. This solution came from their own need to pump water in their fields for the winter crops. It was a basic windmill made of bamboo and tin sheets. After three years of optimizing the windmill, it has turned out to be a mature product with a large scale testing around Gujarat (20 prototypes). A windmill has become a better solution for salt mining than for field irrigation, due to the fact that Gujarat is one of the main salt mining states and the strong winds found in this area.

PROJECT GOALSBecause the windmill was conceived as a bottom up solution, it is affordable to local markets and construction possibilities. Windmills have existed since the first century, and have been adapted to different scenarios and conditions

around the world; so thousands of different windmills can be found. This grassroots windmill proposal highlights itself by the low cost, production requirements and efficiency, solving the end user needs. The innovation proposed by the Hussain brothers triggered us towards the understanding of the grassroots innovations, and how they solve problems with local resources, in a cost-effective and sustainable way.

The problem exists out of multiple issues which are stated below. During our project we would like to address these issues and use this to create a new value proposition for the windmill of the Hussain brothers.

Technical issues• Developing the windmill in a way that it

can be used in different geographical situations.

• Making the windmill adaptable to overcome local site constraints.

Usage issues• How to install/use the windmill• How to repair the windmill

New value propositions • Finding different functions for the

windmill principle.

• Searching different utilities to use the generated wind energy.

Commercial concerns• Developing ways to make the

windmill more commercially viable. • Creating a technical feasible product.• Make a fair supply chain, in which

farmers receive a fair share of the profit.

PROJECT PHASES AND PLANNINGOur project will last five months and is divided in to five different phases. All phases are described below with the activities for each specialization within the team. The figure on the next page shows an overview how these phases are divided over time and the period we expect to work in India.

Phase I - Analysis Starting point will be the analysis of the windmill to be able to build further on the current available knowledge. Preparations will be made for our stay in India.

Strategy - Research of current market developments, current market opportunities and threats. Important is to make an overview of the stakeholders of

different markets and to make estimations of market size/potential.Context - Analysis of Indian context, gaining understanding in user needs.Realization - Focus on current technical solution and the practical issues involved.

Phase II - Ideation Ideation takes place partly in The Netherlands and partly in India. In this way, input and value can be searched for in two ways. First of all, by finding interesting opportunities from a western and TU Delft perspective. Second, by searching for opportunities in the Indian market. Finally, these different inputs can be tested locally to generate the right outputs. Strategy - Opportunities will be searched for in alternative utilities for the windmill. New ideas in business models will be generated and new value will be searched for within the value chain. Important is

to map the several value chains within the different markets.Context - Development of tools and methods which can be used to gain input from Indian context. Potential ideas will be tested locally to gain feedback from its end users. Realization - Searching for alternative possible utilities which can be used in combination with wind energy. Solutions will be tested to see its functionality at different geographical environments and sites.

Phase III - ConceptualizationAfter testing the input from both a TU Delft as a Indian perspective, concepts will be developed and tested. Criteria from Gian will be taken into consideration while developing the final concepts to create maximum value for the organization.

Strategy - For each concept, detailed business models will be generated. An

overall view of the market should ensure future success. A start will be made on marketing and implementation plans. Context - All concepts will be tested to find out preference among our final target group. Field research will also indicate which areas require more research and detailing. Realization - Concepts will be tested practically to find the best solutions. Possible technical drawings, presentation drawings and simple prototypes will used to explain each concept.

Phase IV - TestingA final concept will be chosen and tested at the local market. Depending on the results, a prototype or working principle will be used.

Testing concepts Finalizing and documenta-

tion

SEP OKT NOV DEC JAN

Period in India

Testing ideas and conceptualiza-tion

Analysis current design

Ideation and finding opportunities &

value

PROJECT PLANNING

Strategy - Market potential will be estimated and marketing/implementation plans will be developed. These can be tested locally to find out the potential of success. Context - The final concepts will be tested and user insights will be used to develop ways to convey its use to the final users. Realization - By making prototypes of working principles, different tests can be performed on sight and at the TU Delft.

Phase V - Finalization The last month results will be transformed into presentations and reports. These will be made in an appealing and convincing way, for as well the TU Delft as for our Indian partners.

Strategy - Business models, marketing/implementation plan and others will be made in a understandable graphs which can be used to convince possible investors. Also market figures will be used to make financial estimations. Context - All user insights have to processed in a way that they can convince and persuade. Manuals or other ways to explain the use can be made to explain our concept locally.Realization - Possible working principles will be presented in prototypes and design/technical drawings. These can be

used to show and convince its value.

EXPECTED OUTCOME As Industrial Design students from Delft University of Technology we are specially trained in user centered design. Understanding people’s needs and interaction with the material world is a basic starting point for successful product innovation. Together with the knowledge about windmills brought from Delft University of Technology this will lead to a sustainable, convenient and commercially sellable design. To ensure a sustainable contribution to the stakeholders the design proposal is delivered together with a business model. Extra attention is is given to the implementation plan, since we want to make a product that is successful on the long run. All the knowledge gathered during the five months lasting project will be documented and presented in a report. The report includes insights of the user, context specific requirements, working principle, design iterations, production plan and test results. As a final outcome of the project a prototype will be made to show the core of the design. Most probably the prototype shows the working principle of the proposed design.

KEY PLAYERS IN PROJECTCommissioner: GIAN (www.gian.org)GIAN is a technology business incubator. They are helping unaided, unqualified, untrained individual innovator from the informal sector who has conceptualized/developed technological innovation and/or outstanding traditional knowledge practices. Gian is part of the Honey Bee network and based in Ahmedabad, India. Mahesh Patel is the Chief Innovator Manager of GIAN. Mister Patel offered his support and help during our stay in India and will be our direct contact. 

Investor: Alstom Foundation Alstom is a world leader in transport infrastructure, power generation and transmission.  The foundation financially supports project that have to do with power generation or infrastructure. They have chosen to support this windmill project by funding the manufacturing of the first series.

Dr. Vikram ParmarAssociate Professor & Joint Director,VentureStudio- Center for Innovative Business Design, Ahmedabad University, India, Assistant professor TUDelft

Industrial design engineers (ID engineers) educated at Delft University of Technology are engineers trained to work in product development. IDE is a multidisciplinary study, ID engineers learn learn about every aspect of product design. We have strong practical design skills, a broad technological grounding and extensive knowledge of innovation processes. At the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, we actually devise, study and improve products. This is done based upon the wishes and needs of users, the business community and society as a whole.

Industrial design engineering at Delft University of Technology is the largest university-based design course in the world. Since it was founded in 1965, more than 3000 designers have graduated in IDE. Delft is also a pioneer in educational innovation and a source of important research in the field of industrial design engineering. Following the mission of the Faculty of IDE, the overall research objective has been defined as follows: Fostering sustainable well-being by exploring, generating and transferring knowledge and technologies for industrial design. The key element of this goal is ‘sustainable well-being’. Well-FOUR DESIGN STUDENTS

IN SEARCH OF A PROJECTDELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

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INDUSTRIAL DESIGN ENGINEERING

“Fostering sustainable well-being by exploring, generating and transferring knowledge and technologies for industrial design.”

being refers to an experiential state of people and organisations, which can have many shapes, such as satisfaction, fulfilment, support, inspiration, protection, acknowledgment, comfort, happiness, and involvement. The terms of this well-being is not unconditional; it must be sustainable. Its realisation must consider the interests of ‘others’, i.e. culture, other people and organisations. This sustainability may take the form of (material) durability, sustained use, or prolonged affective or aesthetic life span; or it will take the form of social or cultural responsibility.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN ENGINEERING TUDELFT

Our team exists of four TU Delft students, di-vided over three different master directions. The team is international, including three Dutch and one Colombian student.

TEAM VISION The Base of the Pyramid is a context that offers many challenges like limited resourc-es, efficiency and sustainability, but at the same time it offers a lot of opportunities to make a change by a small difference. For us, this project is an unique opportunity to apply the things we learned in this exciting context. It allows us to not only stimulate business, but also help a society which is eager to develop.

Our vision is to apply our knowledge in order create meaningful products for the base of the pyramid.

All four of us are extremely enthusiastic about this challenge, and we hope to share this enthusiasm with you.

TEAM EXPERIENCEAs team we have experience working to-gether. This allows us to work more effi-cient and effectively. It also resulted in an enthusiastic group of people who share the same passions and interests. Our team has experience in many different sectors. Some FOUR DESIGN STUDENTS

IN SEARCH OF A PROJECTDELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

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THE TEAM

have already worked in practice, some studied at art school and some have al-ready worked within the BOP. Also, all members of our team have a passion for traveling. This is an important driver for us to do this project abroad. Finally, attention was paid for sustainability through out our whole education.

“Our vision is to apply our knowledge in order to create meaningful products for the base of the pyramid.”

We estimated the total costs of the project for the four of us, during 2,5 months stay in India incluiding flight tickets will be around €10.000,-. We’re trying to get € 7000,- sponsored by companies, funds en gifts. In the case we succeed to get more than this amount we will donate the money to GIAN. In this way we hope more grassroots can be realized.

Budget overview:

Income:

Funds 1000,-Companies 2200,-Gifts 500,-Alstom Foundation 3000,-Own input 3600,-----------------------------------------Total 10300,-

Expenses:

Prototyping 3000,-Translator 400,-Printing 200,-Field research 100,-Telephone 50,-Internet 50,-FOUR DESIGN STUDENTS

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BUDGET

Visa 500,-Rent housing 1000,-Flight tickets 3000,-Local transport 500,-Daily expenses (2,5 months) 1500.-----------------------------------------Total 10300,-

FOUR DESIGN STUDENTSIN SEARCH OF A PROJECTDELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

FOUR D

CASPERVD MEER

NICKVD VELDE

JUAN DAVIDMARTIN

EMMAHAAGEN

CONTACTfourd.jmp@gmail.com+31 (0) 653382158