US students help bring Internet to rural Africa

Only 5% of Africans have access to the web, compared with 74% of North Americans. Over the past year, undergraduates in two of Thomas Zurbuchen's masters-level space systems design classes devised and built a satellite-based system that could inexpensively and easily bring the web to underserved Africa. In November, three students took their system to Kenya and installed it with help from local organisations there.

Students in Patrick Spicer's Industrial and Operations Engineering class now are gathering data to determine how the stations are being used and whether they can be built more economically. Spicer is a lecturer in Industrial and Operations Engineering.

"The work of these students is having a global impact," says Zurbuchen, who is a professor in the departments of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences (AOSS) and Aerospace Engineering and director of the Center for Entrepreneurship. "All of these students are taking a great idea, using the appropriate tools, and creating success."

Kelly Moran, Trisha Donajkowski and Joan Ervin, who recently graduated with master's degrees in AOSS, took the stations to Kenya. They spent 10 days there, hauling the equipment to various sites and working with residents and local organisations to install the Internet cafes.

Over Gmail chat, Moran still hears from the people she met there.

"I can't tell you how many nights I'll be online and someone is up over in Africa. They'll tell me, 'You don't know how large of an impact you've made here. We thank you every day,'" Moran says.

She has heard that they use the web for research on medical issues or farming. They're setting up accounts. They're emailing documents that might have taken days to otherwise reach their destination. Some are even on Facebook.

The students never dreamed they'd actually have a chance to see their designs put to use.

"I had no idea that something we worked on in a class would become such a reality," Donajkowski says. "I remember the day I heard there was interest in redesigning the station and making a few to actually deploy in Africa. My heart jumped."