John Barrie recently won the Boston Innovation Prize Challenge seeking a new energy efficient air conditioner.
I’m a designer. My professional training is in both Mathematics and Architecture. I run a small technology incubator firm that focuses on energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable technologies. I also am the Executive Director of the Appropriate Technology Collaborative, a nonprofit whose purpose is “To design, develop, demonstrate and distribute appropriate technological solutions for meeting the basic human needs of low income people in the developing world”.
In addition to design work, I have been an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the University of Michigan and am currently working with groups of engineering students at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University to develop new appropriate technologies for low income people in the developing world.
Given my background, the Barr Foundation Challenge was a great fit for me – not just because it falls within my expertise, but because it’s a real opportunity to make a difference. Helping a city like Cambridge Massachusetts to lower its carbon footprint is something that I can really get excited about.
I am, of course looking at other InnoCentive Challenges. I am particularly interested in several that have been posted by the Rockefeller Foundation that focus on technology for low income people in developing countries. If you’d like to find out more about me, I write a blog called Sustainable Design Update that can be found here – http://www.sustainabledesignupdate.com
