ATC



The Appropriate Technology Collaborative is my new “thing”.

The Appropriate Technology Collaborative (ATC) creates new sustainable technologies that promote economic growth and improve the quality of life for low income people worldwide. We design, develop, demonstrate and distribute affordable technological solutions that empower people and promote dignity. ATC works in collaboration with local talent and other nonprofits (NGOs) to create market-based solutions that are culturally sensitive, environmentally responsible and locally repairable in order to improve the quality of life and reduce adverse impacts on the environment.

ATC Development

i first met John Barrie, the brain behind ATC, at a mini maker’s fair in ann arbor. (by the way, if there is a maker’s fair of any sort in your community, i highly recommend going. you’ll see everything from green solutions to workshop experiments to beautiful crafts to entrepreneurial new technology.) after a little prompting to talk to him, i discovered what he does and i declared, “that’s exactly what i want to do for a career!” and he said, “me too!”




Social Enterprise

ATC works closely with people in Guatemala and Nicaragua, and has contacts and projects in many other countries, throughout latin america, africa and asia. the idea is not only to come up with designs that solve a problem for low-income families, but to do it in such a way that it is self-sustaining. items are not given away. they are not shipped from somewhere in the U.S. or China or another industrialized nation. they are produced locally, they are maintained locally, and they are purchased by the families that use them. in some cases, local people are able to make a sustainable micro-business using the design – providing a product to others at an affordable price and making a small business for themselves. in all cases, the idea is to provide opportunity, using locally-available talent and resources, in tune with the surrounding culture. all of the designs, once developed and proven out, are “open source” and available to anyone who would like to use them. so far designs have been downloaded for use in at least 40 countries!



ATC/MSU Solar Vaccine Refrigerator


there are a lot of buzzwords that apply here -- sustainable development, opportunity by design, open source, social impact, appropriate tech, etc. – but the reality is even better: we work with actual families and schools in the communities that will use the products. we build prototypes and get feedback; we help install and commit to follow up with designs in people’s homes; we go back to the same communities to see how our stuff works and what improvements can be made. then we make it available online to whomever can benefit.



Woven Wind Team

ATC focuses on three main areas: energy, water/sanitation, and health. toward that end, there have been projects such as a solar-powered vaccine refrigerator with no moving parts and the potential to save thousands of lives. (vaccines going bad is a significant problem, preventing inoculations of all sorts in countries all over the world.) another medical/health solution is an enhanced remote stethoscope which can broadcast a person’s heartbeat to experts far away, who can then diagnose any issues. there is a woven wind turbine team. one of the biggest current projects is small-scale solar projects for schools and homes (more on that in a later post). all of these are past and current projects on which the group works. imagine what the future projects will be!

relationship-building and cross-cultural collaborations are also huge. ATC leads trips to poor, indigenous areas in Guatemala and Nicaragua for volunteers to work with the local people and projects. in the upcoming trip, we will be learning natural building techniques as we add on a room to a schoolhouse. we will also be installing solar on another school so that students can have light and the school can be used for further activities. ATC has forged partnerships with other NGOs to help teach them not only about project-specific technology (like circuits and solar classes), but also to enable them to follow a similar model for their own development, and to enable them to teach the concepts to others, expanding the footprint further. in addition, we have active relationships with multiple universities (and a high school!), mentoring engineering and biomedical students and providing real-world design challenges for their projects. these collaborations allow us to really understand the needs and opportunities for our clients, and implement solutions beyond just our own reach.

Volunteer Travel

another quote, if you’ll indulge me:

ATC works in partnership with people in less economically developed countries to create world-class, low-cost technologies that solve problems and provide opportunity. We have ongoing relationships with people, villages and NGOs in Guatemala and villages + slum cities in Nicaragua. In 2011 we started our first project in India. Since our inception our clients report serving over 1,000,000 people and our breakthrough designs have been downloaded by over 7,000 nonprofits, governments and people in 40 different countries.

and there's much, much more to come!