Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Africa
For english, i am writing on the topic of drinking water in Africa, so I know a little bit about the engineering issues. Some solutions that work in the west are not always good solutions for areas of africa because much of africa is still developing. Since the west is mostly already developed, the technology is more advanced. The underdeveloped regions of africa currently don't have the proper technology to either utilize or understand the western engineering solutions to their complete extent. This can also be part of the reason all of the wealth mentioned in the questions, is not being used. Possibly they dont have the technology to access these natural resources. The problem in generalizing the entire continent of africa, is that obviously there are developed areas and that the whole continent doesn't consist of only small, poor villages. The solutions from the west may work in the few developed regions of africa, but not majority of it.
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That is funny that you are writing about what our lecture is on. You make a really good point on choosing an engineering engineering solutions. They need reasonable solutions, but they cannot have the same standard of solution the US would receive. Africa is still grow and solutions must be chosen with this in mind. In a solution, the best possible option would to have an alternative that would be able to grow and evolve with the country. You do make good point on how underdeveloped all the portions of society are. Like you said, you don't want to generalize, but you want a good idea of the situation. You are also don't want to overestimate or underestimate the abilities of a country or region, because it varies greatly. It is a tricky situation. I think a good first step is to just start incorporating basic technology.
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting how Africa that has several major rivers and contains the largest freshwater lakes in the world has problems with lack of drinking water. That’s why providing water became engineering challenge in Africa. If the technology used in the west doesn’t work in Africa, engineers should come up with a new solution that takes into account all the features of African continent. Two weeks ago we discussed about Choco, Colombia which is located in mountains and has harsh climatic conditions. To install electric lines, engineers found a solution that properly worked in that area. In case of Africa, engineers can also find appropriate engineering solutions. (engr103)
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