Mentoring seed stage companies at MIT100K; supporting a non-profit organization used for microbiological water quality testing in Tanzania; and working with students and faculty members in Peru, Mexico, and India to understand international ecosystems to invent have enhanced my professional career. I was a co-founder of the non-profit organization AQUA-BRIDGE that tackled the drinking water crisis in developing countries. I designed a low-cost bacterial detection reagent “BOILERT” to detect diarrheal pathogens. We integrated BioSand filtration, low-cost microbiological testing, and a web-based Information Communication Technology platform to detect and communicate water safety data to the Kiwalani community in Tanzania. My on-the-ground experiences with AQUA-BRIDGE were a rapid crash course in understanding the value of inventing in context and with impact as the objective. I also acquired structured information about raising funds, and creating business plans and venture models.

Harvard Innovation Labs, Allston, MA

Resources

• Harvard Innovation Lab Venture Incubation Program
• About AQUA-BRIDGE [Slides]
• Boillert water test [Slides]