Best of CASE District V Award
 

Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Title of entry: Watt a Journey! Lights in the Amazon

About this entry: For one month in 2024, a University of Michigan researcher and a team of engineering students embedded with two rural communities in the Brazilian Amazon and the Pantanal, a vast floodplain in the south-central region of the country. The remote communities are accessible only by boat.

Prior to the U-M visit, locals relied on a diesel generator to power up lights, fans, and the internet. It functioned in the evenings for just three hours. The U-M team installed solar panels to bring power, internet, lighting, cooling, and cold water to the region's school. The U-M students also designed and built an incinerator for an eco-friendly way to dispose of solid waste without causing forest fires. The services make it more attractive for local residents to retain their autonomy in the isolated region by connecting them to the rest of the world and providing the infrastructure to protect the forest and expand ecotourism.

Michigan News writer Fernanda Pires and Michigan Photography videographer Eric Bronson traveled with the researchers to document their activities and real-time problem-solving. The story illustrates how Michigan engineers contribute to and protect the world while respecting its indigenous people. It also demonstrates the unique international learning opportunities available to U-M students.

Pires pitched local media, who featured the U-M team on TV AMAZONAS, the state's main TV station, Tefé News, and two radio stations, Rio Mar and Rural Tefé. This media coverage validated how much the locals valued Michigan's efforts to implement such sustainable energy initiatives.