Design Projects and Topics for 2007

The opportunity exists to increase the sustainability of Uluru Children's Home. The Uluru Children's Home Potential Site Scoping Report provides a vision for the development of Uluru Children's Home. The site layout and design vision for the UCH are identified through plans, perspectives and explanatory text. This document can be downloaded under Resources.

Student design teams are able to provide advice on the most appropriate engineering works that will assist the sustainable development of Uluru Children's Home. Students are able to design and report on one or more engineering projects that will assist the development of the village.

Specific Design Issues

A number projects have been identified by EWB for investigation. This information is provided to assist in the development of concept designs for various infrastructure features which would help make Uluru Children's Home a more sustainable and effective facility from a social, environmental and financial perspective.

Design teams may wish to address a single issue or provide an integrated design solution for two or more issues. Alternative projects may also be considered.

Design solutions should be consistent with the Potential Site Scoping Report with respect to layout and functionality. Changes may be recommended.

The Challenge is an open-ended learning experience and the breadth and depth of design is left to individual universities and design teams - within the context of the Submission Requirements, which are provided in the next section.

Building Extensions and New Facilities

In 2006, the number of infants and children to be cared for at Uluru Children's Home will grow from 34 to 80. There is a corresponding requirement to house more support staff on site and provide accommodation for visiting guests. Further, there is a desire to expand the educational facilities on site to provide services that research out to the wider community.

The Uluru Children's Home Potential Site Scoping Report identifies the need for the following new facilities:

  • Additional accommodation for children and support staff (approximate numbers)
  • Accommodation for visiting volunteers and guests
  • Playground and multi-purpose field for athletics, cricket, hockey and soccer etc.
  • Computer room and associated facilities
  • Theatre/ hall - for gatherings, talks and performances
  • Library - for books, audiovisual and electronic material and internet facilities
  • Art school studio and gallery - for the display of local paintings, drawings and sculptures
  • Administration offices

Note that in 2005, work started on the first of two new accommodation wings to house children made destitute by the 2004 Tsunami. The first wing was opened in October 2006 and the second was completed later in the year. In addition, TEWOAF hopes to have the first classroom ready by July 2007 for those children currently completing their final year at Alampara Primary School.

Student Project: Use the Uluru Children's Home Potential Site Scoping Report as a guide to design new facilities for the site.

Computer Education Centre Expansion

EWB is working in partnership with The East West Overseas Aid Foundation to build and maintain a permanent IT centre for the children at the Uluru Children's Home and Alampara village. The goal of the program is to encourage the social development of the children by using the computer centre as an educational platform. The computer skills gained by the children will be valuable in their search for employment or in their pursuit of higher education.

The program is being conducted in phases with the support of the Victoria League for Commonwealth Friendship (SA). Phase I was completed in mid 2006 and involved the installation of a 6 computer network at Uluru Children's Home. Phase II commenced in August 2006 - an EWB volunteer is currently working at Uluru Children's Home to expand the 6 node pilot network into a multi-function centre supporting 35 computers. The computers will be installed in 3 groups and connected to a standard Ethernet network. A single server will allow the computers to access the internet.

Phase II activities include:

  • Identification of the electrical and cabling requirements for the Computer Education Centre
  • Identification of a Computer Systems Supplier close to the Uluru Children's Home
  • Purchase of the complete computer system including peripheral equipment (printer, projector, cabling)
  • Training for IT staff to independently manage the Computer Education Centre

At the moment, access to the internet is problematic. Terminals in the new Centre may not have access to the internet due to a lack of bandwidth. A wireless link could be established with the Uluru Health Care Centre, located about 1.5km from Uluru Children's Home. Alternatively, WiMax could be considered. (There's no copper connection or local infrastructure for ADSL/ISDN options).

Phase III will commence in 2007. It has the following objectives:

  • Orphanage Information System

Phase III involves the development of a database information system, tentatively titled the "Orphanage Information System" (OIS). It is envisaged that the database will provide a case management system, storing and documenting relevant information regarding TEWOAF, Uluru Children's Home, the Local Medical Clinic, international donors and supporters, volunteer and most importantly, the children.

The Alampara Community Radio Station

A community Radio station is an information service for the community, about the community and by the community. A community radio station in Alampara would enable a, trained person to respond to community generated information requests by accessing information available via the Internet.

Design Project: Assist the development of Phase II at the Computer Education Centre by providing advice on an internet connection for the new terminals. Alternatively, assist the development of Phase III of the project by providing advice on the design of the Orphanage Information System and/or the Alampara Community Radio Station.

Educational Software

According to 2001 census, Kancheepuram District had population of approximately 30.38 lakh (hundred thousand). Table 1 provides an insight into the local literacy rates.

Table 1: Adult Literacy in Kancheepuram District
Number of People (x 1000) Percentage (%)
Literacy 2648 66.4
Male 3075 77.1
Female 2201 55.2
Urban 1438 79.4
Male 817 87. 5
Female 620 70.8
Rural 1210 55.6
Male 753 87. 5
Female 458 42.5

[Source: Kancheepuram District website: www.kanchi.nic.in]

Table 1 shows that about 66 % of the population in Kancheepuram District are literate. In rural areas, the percentage drops to 56 % of the population and less than half of the female population in rural areas can read and write.

At Uluru Children's Home, the Computer Education Centre is used to teach the children skills in English, maths and basic computer literacy. The skills gained by the children will be valuable in their search for employment or in their pursuit of higher education.

EWB is working with TEWOAF to develop a customized computer education curriculum for the students. The students are typically aged from 5 - 12 years old and have no previous experience with computers.

The curriculum focuses on English, maths and computer literacy. Appropriate software is available to teach the students English vocabulary and to practice spelling. However, there is a particular need for software that focuses on English grammar - with emphasis on sentence construction and communication.

Design Project: Develop software for the Computer Education Centre at Uluru Children's Home to encourage student learning in English, maths and basic computer literacy.

Water Supply and Treatment

Rural communities in Kancheepuram District experience a range of water quality issues. In coastal areas, groundwater quality is affected by sea water intrusion resulting from over extraction. In many areas, the groundwater quality is also affected by high levels of naturally occurring iron, contamination by industrial pollutants and a lack of appropriate wastewater and sewage management. River water sources are polluted by local leather and dyeing industries and municipal sewage.

At Uluru Children's Home, all water for drinking, cooking, washing and gardening is supplied by a single well. The well is 15ft deep and it is located 100m from the orphanage grounds. The well location was chosen after a fairly extensive survey of the area. It provides clean, reasonably unsalty water for the children and staff. The water is treated by boiling for four minutes, although this is more of a precaution than a necessity.

Previously, water was supplied by a well within grounds of Uluru Children's Home. However, this supply became too salty following salination of the underground water by the Tsunami of December 2004.

Current water consumption at Uluru Children's Home is approximately 1000L per day. An electric pump feeds a 500L tank (twice daily). Note that water consumption is expected to rise considerably in the foreseeable future due to an increase in population at Uluru Children's Home.

Visitors and volunteers drink bottled water, at 30Rs per 20L bottle. Consumption is approx 20 bottles per month when the volunteer quarters are full. This occurs infrequently.

TEWOAF are currently working with the Rotary Monash in Victoria to develop a rainwater harvesting system. This system will be designed to collect and filter runoff from roofs and provide storage in big tanks (~50kL). This water will be used for cooking and drinking. The well will then be used for washing and gardening. Once implemented, the rainwater harvesting system should be able to independently provide clean fresh drinking water for more than 80 residents.

Design Project: Design a system to provide Uluru Children's Home with a clean and reliable supply of water. The system should consider water quantity, water quality and the long-term sustainability of the supply. Suggestions include rainwater harvesting, aquifer recharge and landscape use for the development of a sustainable microclimate.

Waste Water Management

Waste water at Uluru Children's Home is absorbed in six large sinks, distributed across the grounds. The sixth of these was installed recently to cater for increased demand. There have been problems recently with reduced water re-absorbsion. This may be due to a rising water table during the recent wet season.

In the past, a small, residential grade RO filtration unit was used at Uluru Children's Home to provide clean drinking water (without boiling). Unfortunately, this filter was under-utilized and became clogged.

There's been encouragement locally to use EM (Effective Microorganisms) to reduce the volume of sewage sludge at Uluru Children's Home. EM technology uses various beneficial, naturally-occurring microorganisms to decompose organic waste. The main organisms involved include: photosynthetic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and fermenting fungi. (Note that EM are already being used at Uluru Children's Home for cleaning purposes).

In addition, there has been the discussion regarding dosing the drinking water with fluoride, to help prevent various dental problems. Dental hygiene is a huge problem in Alampara due to the consumption of sugar-filled foods, poor dental practices and a lack of dentists. Adding fluoride could be a fairly simple way of mitigating some of these problems.

Design Project: Design a wastewater management system for Uluru Children's Home. You may wish to consider the use of EM and take into consideration general stormwater drainage issues.

Solid Waste Recycling and Management

Uluru Children's Home does not have an effective waste management system. Organic matter (kitchen waste) is composted then used on the garden. Some recyclable plastics are sent away for off-site recycling. This may or may not occur. The balance of the waste, including non-recyclable plastics, is burned adjacent to the grounds or dumped.

Design Project: Design a solid waste management system for Uluru Children's Home. Take into consideration waste reduction and reuse, recycling and appropriate disposal.

Power Supply

The average power consumption at Uluru Children's Home is 50 units/day (kWh). Electricity is supplied from Kadapakkam at a cost of 6000Rs/month.

However, the power supply to Uluru Children's Home and Alampara village is extremely unreliable. Large parts of India experience almost daily blackouts due to insufficient generation capacity. The blackouts typically last an hour or more. In addition, the remote location of Uluru Children's Home means response to faults can be extremely slow. Power will often be out for many hours, or even whole days at a time. Even when power is available, it is often unsteady and at well below the nominal voltage.

A 10kW single-phase diesel generator is used on-site for backup. The generator consumes about 5 L of fuel every 8 h, at 35Rs per litre (excluding the cost of wear on the machinery). As a result of the cost, it tends to be used sparsely. It is anticipated that Uluru Children's Home will need to upgrade the generator when the proposed extensions to all the facilities are completed. A three-phase device is preferable. A solar system would be ideal given the amount of sunlight throughout the year.

Note that India runs on a 220V AC system.

Design Project: Design a reliable and cost-effective power supply system for Uluru Children's Home. Sunlight is abundant, so a solar power system may be a viable option. Note that existing wiring and selection of fittings hasn't previously taken this option into consideration (primarily incandescent bulbs, electric water heaters in living quarters, etc). Hydroelectric or wind options may be viable alternatives.

Cooling System

The buildings are very open with big windows and large spaces to encourage ventilation. The perimeter wall has big holes for similar reasons. New dormitories have been designed with natural ventilation at the bottom of the walls.

Thatched roofing was originally used, but has proved to be extremely costly to maintain. It is no longer permissible for the childrens' sleeping quarters due to the perceived risk of fire.

Local buildings are typically constructed using concrete held up with bamboo and rust reobar. The structures at UCH are generally made from double brick with a render finish, a normal wood frame and a tiled roof.

Design Project: Design a cooling system for existing and/or proposed buildings at Uluru Children's Home. You may wish to consider thermal mass, insulation and fire resistance.

Cooking Methods

Uluru Children's Home serves three fully vegetarian meals a day to staff, children and guests. Meals typically consist of rice, chapattis (flat wheat bread) and two or three sauces or side dishes. Fish and eggs are also served on occasion.

Gas is presently used for all cooking at Uluru Children's Home. The orphanage typically consumes 5 - 6 bottles per month, at 500Rs per bottle. The supply is fairly unreliable and an appropriate backup is sought. Fire was previously used as a backup, although is now discouraged for safety and hygiene reasons.

Another bottleneck in the kitchen is production of chapattis, which is moderately labour-intensive. Two new electric chapati machines have recently been purchased to overcome this issue.

The also contains a fridge, some grinding machinery and an electric oven. Two fireplaces are used outside.

Design Project: Design a cooking system for the kitchen at Uluru Children's Home.

Permaculture

Permaculture is a whole systems approach to ecological planning and design. It is a holistic ecological approach to the design and development of communities and it takes into account a wide range of factors including food production, structures, technologies, energy, natural resources, landscape, animal systems, plant systems, and social and economic structures.

The opportunity exists to implement permaculture techniques at Uluru Children's Home, particularly with respect to food production, energy and landscape use.

Uluru Children's Home currently has a small garden. The garden is maintained by the children and grows small quantities of vegetables for cooking. The majority of the food is procured from local villages. Plans have been made to create a larger, more productive garden behind the existing kitchen and dining hall.

Note that agriculture is the main occupation for people in Kancheepuram District - approximately 47% of the population rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Major crops include paddy, groundnuts, sugarcane, cereals, millets and pulses.

Design Project: Design a garden (and other facilities) for Uluru Children's Home based on permaculture techniques.

Alternative Projects

The infrastructure elements suggested have already been recognized by TEWOAF. However, there may well be other elements that could be introduced if appropriate to the circumstances.

Students may investigate alternative projects under the guidance of their university. Each project should be relevant to the sustainable development of Uluru Children's Home and/or Alampara. Project ideas include:

Education and/or training programs based on:

  • Local agricultural practices
  • Local industry
  • Financial and economic matters

Local minesite rehabilitation or safety:

  • Lignite mining in the Pondicherry / Cuddalore area
  • Black graphite mining in Kancheepuram District
  • Salt mining from local salt pans