Over a billion people worldwide live on less than a dollar a day, and their poverty is compounded by inequalities in healthcare provision, education, and access to resources such as energy and water. Over the past twenty years, there has been a growing realisation that current models of development are unsustainable, and that the social and economic inequalities between the developing and developed world must be addressed if peace and stability is to be ensured.

Tackling these inequalities and finding sustainable solutions will require new approaches and models, so the Cambridge-MIT Institute has developed an innovative interdisciplinary Masters programme to give graduate engineers the skills necessary to solve the complex challenges of the 21st century. As the biggest funders of Cambridge University Entrepreneurs, we have supported numerous student-led social enterprise start-ups through the People, Planet, Productivity competition. Our research into a potential production platform for new drugs could help combat Tuberculosis, AIDS, and other infectious diseases that currently blight the lives of millions of people in the developing world.

Using Bacteria in the Fight Against TB

Tuberculosis is on the rise worldwide, with 9 million new cases per year causing nearly 2 million deaths. The spread of the disease is exacerbated by poor nutrition, impoverished housing, and poor health - all of which can impair the immune system. The economic impact of TB is enormous, with sufferers often unable to work and requiring care from relatives and over burdened healthcare systems.

The Cambridge-MIT Institute has funded research to better understand how to combat this virulent and multi drug-resistant disease. The researchers are examining how the bacterium Rhodococcus could be genetically engineered to provide a production platform for new drugs to combat Tuberculosis, and potentially other infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS. They have succeeded in streamlining the time it takes to manipulate and express recombinant synthetic pathways for pharmaceuticals, and their technology is nearly seven times faster than pharmaceutical companies can currently achieve. This process could be particularly useful in developing more effective and potent variants of existing drugs and/or new chemical entities for anti-cancer drugs and antibiotics.

Students study Sustainability

The Cambridge-MIT Institute has recognised the need for new educational courses that meet new technological and social challenges. One of our portfolio of 6 Masters programmes – the MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development - provides graduate engineers with the interdisciplinary skills and understanding necessary to solve complex problems such as climate change, providing water and sanitation to the world's population, and meeting our energy needs in a sustainable way. In addition to environmental science and economics, students on the programme also have the opportunity to study Change Management, examining ways that engineering organisations can incorporate sustainable practices into their existing business models.

Enterprising Students help People, Planet, Productivity

The Cambridge-MIT Institute has been the biggest funder of the Cambridge University Entrepreneurs. CUE are the UK’s most successful student-led enterprise society and in 2004, they launched the 3P competition – which stands for People, Planet, Productivity – in response to the student body’s demand for a business plan competition solely for social enterprises.

DiagnovIS were named joint-winners of the first 3P competition in 2004, and received £10,000 for their plan to develop a more precise, cost-effective and user-friendly method of diagnosing a wide range of infectious and parasitic diseases including malaria and tuberculosis. These diseases continue to exact a heavy toll, particularly in developing countries where there is a lack of effective diagnosis. Due to the acute shortage of practitioners and pathologists, diseases are often misdiagnosed and the wrong medication prescribed, exacerbating the patient’s condition and potentially leading to drug-resistant strains of the disease.

DiagnovIS is developing a compact automated diagnostic unit that uses digital microscopy and artificial intelligence software to screen tissue samples for infectious agents. The unit eliminates the need for skilled pathologists in the diagnostic process and, at an estimated 7p per test, could provide an affordable solution to the diagnostic needs of the developing world. “It’s about combining our professional interests with a strong devotion and passion for people,” says 27 year old PhD student and DiagnovIS co-founder Sonja Marjanovic. “Our mission is to improve the lives of people and address the disparities between the rich and the poor.”

‘People lack for many things: jobs, shelter, food, healthcare and drinkable water,” said Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan. “Today, being cut off from basic telecommunications services is a hardship almost as acute as these other deprivations, and may indeed reduce the chances of finding remedies to them.’ Former CUE 3P winners Aidworld believe that they have developed a novel email device that could be the most effective way of giving people in the developing world the access to information that will enable them to find their own remedies.
Aidworld have developed what could be described as a village blackberry, which uses a satellite link to send and receive email. The device can be run on solar power – thus by-passing the need for power and conventional communications infrastructure in remote rural areas. The device is much cheaper to make and repair than a PC or laptop, and the estimated cost to send an email via the Aidworld device is twenty times less than a one-minute call on a satellite phone.

Landslides cost the world economy millions in lost revenue and are responsible for the loss of thousands of lives every year. A key contributing factor in landslides is soil erosion, often caused by deforestation and urbanisation. Bunot, winners of the 2006 3P competition, have developed a sustainable business model for mass producing ‘coconets’ – nets formed by knitting together the waste husks of coconuts. The ‘coconets’ can then be laid on riverbanks and hillsides, preventing soil being washed away by rain and allowing plants to put down roots – further preventing erosion. The manufacture of the coconets is environmentally friendly, and could benefit coconut farmers in poor rural areas.

CASE STUDY: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY PROVES A HARD-NUT TO CRACK

In 2005, a student on the Cambridge-MIT Institute founded MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development won a major international engineering competition with his project to turn a Ghanaian nut oil into a renewable, carbon neutral energy source. Francis Mills was named as a winner in the Energy Development category of the Mondialogo Worldwide Engineering Competition, which challenges young engineers and technologists to find solutions for a better world.

Francis entered the competition with three students from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. Their project, entitled “Jatropha Energy Development for Rural Communities in Ghana”, focuses on the potential of Jatropha curcas, a nut-producing plant that thrives in semi-arid climates. The oil extracted from the nut can be blended with diesel to create an energy source that is largely renewable and carbon neutral. The team believes that Jatropha oil could substantially reduce the demand for fossil fuels and, in addition, empower local women’s cooperatives by providing an income-generating opportunity in dry, rural settings.

“In 10 years’ time, it would be wonderful to see a large portion of West Africa’s rural energy needs being met by clean, locally produced biomass sources like Jatropha. Our project takes us one step closer to that,” said Francis.