Week 1: Getting Started

     This blog will document our weekly progress in Engineering 103, as we work to improve the lives of thousands of people in Bo Kluea, Thailand. We are focusing on improving the current method of cooking and heating for the people,  without impeding into their cultural and spiritual traditions. The current method of cooking and heating involves using three stones as a foundation and placing wood to start a fire. This takes place inside their homes with little to no ventilation and no place for the smoke to escape, raising major problems like smoke inhalation and fires. The people also have to use the hearth as a source of heat for the house raising the issue of fires inside the house.

Figure 1: Current Method

     We plan on tackling the issue one part at a time. Choosing to look at the reason for not having appropriate ventilation in each home. Is it due to a lack of knowledge or materials? Is there a safer way to burn wood that not only lessens the smoke but increase the amount of heat created per square inch? We plan on designing a cooking stove that uses little energy to run but more heat production and less smoke production than the current method.

     Using wood to cook is not only used by the people of Thailand but also by millions of others in the developing world. With our design, the worries of smoke inhalation and fires can be lessened.