Origin
We met as Harvard undergraduates in an Engineering Sciences course at Harvard in a program known as the Idea Translation Lab. All of the members of our group have a deep background and interest in Africa, and we became interested in finding ways of passively harvesting energy to power lights and cell phones, taking advantage of the rich natural and human resources we knew existed in rural Africa.
What’s in a name?
In South Africa the Northern Sotho word for light, lamp, or candle is Lebone. Pronounced [La - bo - ney]
The Team:
Hugo Van Vuuren, Founder; Hugo is a Fellow at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and helped launch The Laboratory at Harvard, a new platform for idea experimentation in the arts and sciences. Born and raised in South Africa, his endeavors and research focus on Design with Africa and the intersection between technology, design and innovation.
Hugo works with Artscience Labs and Le Laboratoire, an experimental art and design center in Paris.
Selected as a 2009 PopTech Social Innovation Fellow, a TED2010 Fellow, and a 2011 Student Fellow at The Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Hugo and his co-founders won the 2009 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award for their Dirt-Powered Battery design. He graduated with a Bachelors in Economics and will pursue a Master in Design Studies at The Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Aviva Presser Aiden, Founder; Aviva received her PhD from Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the MIT Department of Biology in 2009.
She is currently a student at Harvard Medical School. Aviva was runner-up in the 2009 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize competition for the most innovative student at MIT, winner of the 2008 Harlequin More Than Words Award, and appears as a fictional character based on herself in a best-selling novella by Jennifer Archer. Aviva co-founded Bears Without Borders, an award winning organization fostering economic opportunities among developing-world artisans.
Stephen Lwendo, Founder; Steven is a senior at Harvard College studying electrical engineering and computer science. His interest and passion for technology and education stems from the shortcomings of the two in his experience growing up in his hometown, Arusha in Tanzania. After graduating this year, he will work at Harvard’s Population Development Center as an assistant researcher in demography and public health focusing on sub-sahara Africa. He hopes to pursue further studies and research relating to applied science and technology education in sub-sahara Africa.
Alexander Fabry. Founder; Alexander is currently finishing an MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, having graduated from Harvard in 2009 with a degree in History of Science and Physics. Funded by a Gates-Cambridge scholarship, he is currently researching the surprising intersection between solar astronomy and British imperial aims during the 19th century. Alexander was also awarded a Pforzheimer Public Service Fellowship by Harvard in 2009.
David Sengeh, Founder; David is from Bo, Sierra Leone. He won an international scholarship to study at the Red Cross Nordic United World College in Norway for two years before going to Harvard, where he studied Biomedical Engineering. David has worked in Professor David Edwards’ lab which aims to aerosolize the TB vaccine BCG for delivery to the lungs. He has also worked with other professors on the use of portable ultrasound in poor communities among other research projects.
David is also a founder of Global Minimum Inc., an international NGO that has distributed thousands of mosquito nets in Sierra Leone. He has worked in Zambia, Namibia, Sierra Leone and Dubai on various projects and traveled extensively. A Harvard College Peer Advising Fellow, David sits on the Board of multiple organizations at Harvard and beyond. He plans to pursue a PhD at the Media Lab at MIT beginning in fall 2010
Zoe Vallabha, Founder; Zoe graduated from Harvard with a B.A. in Philosophy in 2007 and now lives with her husband in Bryn Mawr and teaches Mathematics.
Justina Ndaambelela Shilongo, Justy grew up in Epyeshona (Okatana), a small rural village in northern Namibia. Trained as an electronic technician her vision is to enable further research and to help train young Namibians. Justy is “committed to this project because I believe that providing light to our rural communities will help our youth to study after the sun goes down and inspire more young people to become interested in environmentally friendly energy.”
Advisers and Partners:
+David Edwards. Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Harvard. He has founded several companies, including Pulmatrix and Advanced Inhalation Research (AIR), the Idea Translation Lab, and a non-profit, MEND.
+James Russell. Senior Director of the Clinton Climate Initiative, former McKinsey consultant and graduate of Harvard College and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
The Harvard Idea Translation Lab at Harvard and the Harvard Initiative for Global Health.
Contact
hello-at-lebone.org
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