Welcome to the home of the Michigan Tech Open Sustainability Technology research group housed within the Departments of Materials Science & Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering. We focus on open and applied sustainability, which is the application of science and innovation to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems. Specifically we are interested in exploring the way solar energy can be used to provide clean sustainable electricity through photovoltaic devices and how the sharing of open source hardware and software can create sustainable and equitable means of production. Read all of our recent open access publications.
Coming soon:
Solar powered
self-replicating open-source 3-D printers - capable of making primary
components of solar photovoltaic systems from recycled waste along with
anything else you can design. Predicted in J. M Pearce, C. Morris Blair, K. J. Laciak, R. Andrews, A. Nosrat and I. Zelenika-Zovko, “3-D Printing of Open Source Appropriate Technologies for Self-Directed Sustainable Development”, Journal of Sustainable Development 3(4), pp. 17-29 (2010).
Is that even possible?
How would global society change if everyone had access to abundant low-cost renewable energy via solar electricity, open source 3D designs and an affordable open source 3-D printer like the RepRap?
What if everyone has access to vast collection of inexpensive scientific research tools?
- Joshua
M.
Pearce,
“Building Research Equipment with Free,
Open-Source Hardware.” Science 337
(6100):
1303–1304 (2012) . open
access Podcast
- 3D Printing Brings the Science Lab to Your Backyard - Popular Mechanics
- 3-D Printing- Anything You Can Dream Jumps Into Three Dimensions - Txchnologist
Want to be the first to find out? Join us.
- M.J.M Pathak, K. Girotra, S.J. Harrison and J.M. Pearce, “The Effect of Hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal Device Operating Conditions on Intrinsic Layer Thickness Optimization of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells”, Solar Energy 86, pp. 2673-2677 (2012). open access
- M.J.M. Pathak, J.M. Pearce and, S.J. Harrison, “Effects on Amorphous Silicon Photovoltaic Performance from High-temperature Annealing Pulses in Photovoltaic Thermal Hybrid Devices” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 100, pp. 199-203 (2012). arXiv
How adding salt to drinking water - can in some cases make it safe to drink. -- Clean Drinking Water for Everyone
- B. Dawney and J.M. Pearce “Optimizing Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS) Method by Decreasing Turbidity with NaCl”, The Journal of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for Development 2(2) pp. 87-94 (2012).
Nicole C. McDonald, Ha T. Nguyen, and Joshua M. Pearce, “Technical Feasibility of Renewable Electricity Generation in Nunavut” in M.D. Tiwari, A. Vaish (Ed.), Green Energy, River Publishers: Alborg, Denmark, pp. 41-74 (2012). Available: Google Books preview
Usman Mushtaq and Joshua M. Pearce “Open
Source
Appropriate
Nanotechnology ” Chapter 9 in editors Donald Maclurcan and
Natalia
Radywyl, Nanotechnology
and
Global
Sustainability, CRC Press, pp. 191-213, 2012.
Angela R. Bielefeldt and Joshua M. Pearce, “Service Learning in Engineering” Chapter 2 in Thomas H. Colledge (Ed), Convergence: Philosophies and Pedagogies for Developing the Next Generation of Humanitarian Engineers and Social Entrepreneurs, NCIIA, pp.24-52 (2012). Free E-book pdf.