I’ve always been excited about using technology to improve the lives of underserved communities. As a third-year engineering student, I felt I wasn’t gaining enough hands-on experience applying my skills effectively in disadvantaged communities. I sent a cold email to Dr. Janet Ellzey, the director of Humanitarian Engineering at UT Austin. It was this email that sparked over 2-years of research on minimal lighting systems.

At first, the problem space involved lots of ambiguity. The Red Cross was looking for ways to reduce gender-based violence in refugee camps in Lebanon. Research showed that gender-based violence increased at night near bathrooms and hygiene facilities, where people are most vulnerable. Humanitarian organizations attributed this problem to poor lighting in hygiene facilities and landed on the most obvious solution: install bright lights in bathrooms. Surprisingly, when these organizations installed brights lights, rates of gender-based violence didn’t decrease (and in some cases even increased). The brighter lights led to meeting grounds for groups to socialize at night, which increased the vulnerability of women and children. This was the first time I recognized that the most obvious solution is not always the most effective solution. 

I had to rely on frequent Zoom calls with the Red Cross to deeply understand the problems and environmental settings of these refugee camps. The ambiguity soon turned to clarity and I learned the following insights:

The brightness or the lux level of a lighting system impacted large-group behavior in refugee camps.

Bathrooms in refugee camps were typically built from corrugated tin so any lighting system needed to easily work well with this material.

Theft was a serious problem with past lighting systems, as they were frequently stolen or dismantled to be sold within the camps.

Refugee camps in Lebanon were typically exposed to the outdoor elements which involved sand storms in the spring and heavy rains in the winter.

Lighting systems needed to be portable and low-cost so they could be easily assembled by volunteers on-site.

Meeting regularly with the Red Cross helped me better understand our end users: (1) Refugees who need adequate lighting systems to safely use washrooms (2) Red Cross volunteers who need to easily assemble these lighting systems on-site. Understanding the user personas and needs helped me land on our ultimate goal of this research: develop a low-cost, portable minimal lighting system for washrooms in refugee camps. 

It became clear that building a great solution would require both electrical and mechanical engineering expertise. I contacted my classmate and good friend, Ashley Perez, to co-build a lighting solution. I kicked off the research by deconstructing low-cost garden lights which are affordable, portable, and utilize solar energy. I wanted to understand the circuit and solar cell used in these types of products. The circuit for a garden light is quite simple - it involves a battery, inductor, solar cell, LEDs, and QX5252F (integrated circuit used in most garden lights). We needed to implement this circuit but we still had no idea how to design a lighting system of the right brightness levels.

People were at the center of this research, so we spent lots of time understanding the current lighting conditions in camp settings. We read publications such as Lighting, WASH, and Gender-Based Violence in Camp Settings, How Night-Time Lighting Street Lighting Affects Refugee Communities, and The Sphere Handbook to learn more about how lighting impacts behavior and standards in humanitarian response. After reading these papers, we noticed that there are no minimal technical standards for lighting systems in emergency camp settings. This makes it increasingly difficult for researchers and engineers to develop lighting solutions for emergency camp settings. Before finalizing any designs, we set standards across illumination, sustainability, durability, and size. Our proposed minimal lighting standards were outlined in a Technical Literature Review. This became our first major deliverable for our research.

The lighting standards were principles that guided our designs. We developed three possible design solutions: (1) pop-socket setup (2) glow-patch implementation (3) band-aid design. We evaluated these three designs based on our lighting standards (illumination, sustainability, durability, and size) in a Design Decision Matrix. We chose to proceed with the band-aid design which was rated the highest across our lighting standards. If you’ve gotten this far, you might be wondering: how are band-aids and lighting systems even related?

The band-aid lighting system can be broken down into three main features: 

1 central module which serves as the casing for the circuit and solar cell 

2 flaps on either side which serve as the light source with embedded LEDs

Adhesive backings to ensure the lighting system can permanently stick to any surface  

I started prototyping by building a custom printed circuit board (PCB) for our band-aid implementation. I used KiCad, an open-source software, to build the PCB. Since the original band-aid implementation required 3 LEDs on each flap, I designed a custom PCB that connects rows of LEDs in both directions and radiates the optimal minimum lighting levels of 200 lux. 

I spent 2-weeks rapidly prototyping with the goal of building a low-fidelity, working prototype. I leveraged the circuit, solar cell, and LEDs of a deconstructed garden light and 3D printed a case in which the circuitry could be protected in the central module. This was truly a low-fidelity prototype so I used masking tape and paper to build out the flaps. This was my first real foray in rapid prototyping and I learned how crucial this process is for quick testing and iterating on ideas. 

In the second iteration of the lighting system, I developed a high-fidelity prototype which leveraged the custom PCB that radiated light at exactly 200 lux. This iteration involved more research into materials design where I used nylon for the band-aid flaps to waterproof the system and an epoxy adhesive that prevents the lighting system from being removed/disassembled from the washroom. Once the prototype was fully assembled, I spent time testing the lighting system outdoors to weather conditions like rain and dry heat.

The rapid prototyping culminated in developing a low-cost (less than $2) minimal lighting system for washrooms in refugee camps. This research was presented at the annual Poster Exhibition on Engineering Research (PEER) Competition where we won 1st place. I hope to continue iterating on the designs by working closely with the Red Cross and the Humanitarian Engineering Department to test the product in refugee camps in Lebanon. 

I built a minimal lighting system for low-cost, easy installation in refugee camps. 

How to design lighting systems for refugee camps

My journey into electrical engineering began in a high school Physics class. With little to no prior knowledge about circuits, terms like resistors, capacitors, and diodes felt like learning a new language. I quickly grew interested, especially during the hands-on labs where I could light up LEDs with just a few basic components: wires, resistors, a battery, and a breadboard.

This class was particularly impactful because it revealed how pervasive and essential electrical engineering is in our world. From power generation and consumer electronics to communication systems and medical technology, the field's broad influence became clear. This realization inspired me to pursue a degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin.

However, during my first semesters, I was struck by the low number of women in my program. It was evident, especially in labs and classes, where I could easily count the female-identifying students in my classes. My advisors confirmed that electrical engineering had one of the lowest female-to-male ratios at UT, with just 11% of women pursuing the degree. While organizations like the Society of Women Engineers and Women in ECE provide crucial support and community, they primarily focus on retention rather than increasing accessibility to electrical engineering education for younger students.

This inspired me to launch Resistorings, a project that merges my excitement for circuits and jewelry to make electrical engineering concepts more accessible and engaging, particularly for kids. Through fun, lighthearted activities like creating personalized electrical jewelry, my goal is to spark interest in electrical engineering, especially among female-identifying students, and encourage them to pursue careers in the field.

Launching Resistorings involved building a website, designing a logo, and establishing partnerships with local STEM organizations such as the Girls Empowerment Network and the Society of Women Engineers. I also started a blog that features interviews with female-identifying ECE students, exploring their journeys into the field and what inspired them to pursue this degree.

As I maintained the platform, I developed the product itself in two parts: (1) designing the electrical jewelry, and (2) creating the educational curriculum for STEM workshops. In just a few weeks, I crafted simple, colorful electrical earrings using beads and resistors, selling them for less than $5 to engineering students, mentors, and family friends. The proceeds funded materials for playdough circuit activities, which I used to host workshops at STEM conferences, teaching kids about circuits. At the end of these workshops, each student received a pair of Resistorings as a reminder of the concepts they learned.

I enjoy tinkering with Resistorings and envision it growing into an instructable circuit jewelry kit for educators and parents. This experience has solidified my passion for EdTech and entrepreneurship, and I hope to continue innovating in this space.

I founded Resistorings, an EdTech initiative that designs electrical earrings to teach kids about circuits. 

Startup Senior Design ECE Capstone Project

The ECE department at UT Austin offers two types of Senior Capstone Projects: (1) Projects sponsored by corporations (2) Projects that have the potential to turn into startups. Given my interest in entrepreneurship, I eagerly applied to the Startup Senior Design Capstone with a team of 4 other ECE students. The course spanned across two semesters with the following milestones:

Develop the engineering design for a product

Validate the design through prototype construction and testing, modeling, simulations, and manufacturing analysis 

Develop a company prospectus and seek venture funding for the project

My teammates and I were deeply interested in applying engineering to help disadvantaged communities. Throughout undergrad, many of us were tinkering with personal projects to further explore this interest. In fact, one of my classmates on the team, Sijin Woo, had developed a smart mobility aid for blind and visually impaired people for an embedded systems course a few semester prior. The project was referenced frequently in our early brainstorming sessions and we recognized that there was very little innovation and funding in educational tools for blind and visually impaired students. 

I scheduled meetings with teachers at the Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired so the team could better understand the needs of blind & visually impaired students. Through our first few meetings, it became clear that blind students struggled learning math concepts that involve visual aids like graphs and charts. This is because current braille technology is expensive and inaccessible. We landed on our product for the senior capstone project: an affordable braille display to represent tactile graphs and charts for students. 

We named the product ReadMe and immediately started brainstorming possible designs and developing low-fidelity prototypes. Since braille can be displayed in 2x3 or 2x4 matrices, we built a prototype with a 4x4 matrix which can easily scale to these different sizes. Each dot can be raised within the matrix via thermopneumatic actuators. This process involved filling multiple brass tubes with a volatile liquid. Once the tubes are filled, they are sealed with a thin, nitrile membrane. Then, each brass tube is filled with a nichrome heat wire. When the brass tubes heat up, a force is created by heating the volatile liquid, causing the flexible membrane to expand. 

At this point in the semester, COVID-19 hit campus and we were all instructed to collaborate remotely on our final prototype. With most of the electrical, mechanical, and chemical engineering development completed, we turned to building a user interface that could seamlessly integrate with JAWs (a computer screen reader that converts to text to speech). I developed low fidelity designs which involved a simple drag and drop display where educators and students could easily import images, files, and text. This information would be the input which would trigger the braille display to build the corresponding tactile graphs. 

The course culminated in a virtual demo day where we presented ReadMe in a 2-minute pitch which showcased our designs, prototypes, and partnerships with local schools. This Senior Capstone Project was the perfect way to apply my interests in engineering, entrepreneurship, & design. It also re-affirmed my passion for using technology to promote education equity. 

I built an affordable braille display to help blind and visually impaired students learn math through tactile graphs and visuals. 

ReadMe: Affordable braille display for graphs & data visuals 