Abstract

Ms Kat Harrison, Social Impact & Research Manager of Solar Aid

Kat manages the research and social impact measurement activities at SolarAid from research design and implementation to learning management and impact communication. SolarAid is a social enterprise, NGO and charity seeking to enable everyone in Africa to enjoy clean energy access through building a market for micro-solar lights. Kat previously set up the Monitoring and Evaluation system at Riders for Health and worked in M&E for the United Nations World Food Programme in Malawi.

Mr Brian Sims, Independent Consultant

Brian is an agricultural engineer with a special interest in farm mechanization for smallholder farmers in developing countries. Until 2003 he was head of the International Development Group at Silsoe Research Institute in Bedfordshire (formerly the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering). Since leaving Silsoe he has been a farm mechanization consultant, mainly for the Food and agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).

He is going to talk about Conservation Agriculture for smallholder farmers in developing countries, including some of the mechanization issues.

Mr Stephen Gerrard, PhD student

Stephen is a 4th year PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, focusing on the development of a novel drug delivery technology. He worked for Shell Oil Company Research for a year prior to University researching new forms of automotive lubricants for future generations of transmission systems. Stephen has a BA and MEng in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge and also studied for a year at MIT whilst as an Undergraduate at Cambridge. In 2011 he studied at the University California Berkeley and the California Department of Public Health as part of his PhD. He has a keen interest in the appropriate implementation of technologies for low-income countries and has worked with various international development organisations throughout his university career including EWB as a logistics manager on the international placements team.

He is going to talk about HIV Transmission to infants, where he explores a novel method of delivering drugs and nutrients to breastfeeding infants and its potential use in reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in breastfeeding. He’ll also talk about the routes to getting involved with International Development as a student at Cambridge.