Mikinduri Children of Hope is a Prince Edward Island, Canada-based non-profit organization that works to improve the lives of the residents of Mikinduri, a rural town in Eastern Kenya, through multiple projects. One of their projects focuses on technological developments, specifically the production of charcoal. There is scarcity of firewood in the area; however, there is a surplus of other agricultural material (cornstalks) from which residents can make charcoal.

Our students consulted with the organization and Mikinduri residents to design a device that optimizes the charcoal pressing process in terms of time, energy, and output while ensuring safety and maintaining low cost of production and high quality charcoal. They analyzed the current process to find points of optimization, and to produce a re-designed and re-engineered press that reduces exposure to harmful vapours and the strain on the user, the time required to produce the charcoal, and the efficiency of the pressing process.