I am my filter and more

Freshman Celestine Warren worked on the project I Am MyFilter. The team created an in-mouth water filter. This and other projects were developed through Engineering Sciences 20: “How to Create Things & Have Them Matter,” a course offered by Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Harvard students presented ideas to fight the world’s water problems Wednesday (April 13), unveiling biodegradable mats impregnated with seeds to fight desertification, an in-mouth water filter to clean dirty water, and an inflatable boat for flood-prone areas that incorporates shelter and drinking water filtration.

The projects were developed in the Idea Translation Lab through Engineering Sciences 20: “How to Create Things & Have Them Matter,” a course offered by Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and taught by David Edwards, Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Biomedical Engineering, and Rob Howe, Abbott and James Lawrence Professor of Engineering and area dean for bioengineering.

The students, mainly undergrads, began the class with just a concept to work with, although the project had to deal with some aspect of the world’s water woes.

Edwards said the class pushes the students to venture into unfamiliar territory to bring their ideas to reality.

“We push the students to be uncomfortable in realization of their dreams,” Edwards said.

Read the full article in the Harvard Gazette