At hundreds of universities across the US, there are teams of bright young inventors who are collaborating with people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, developing new tools and products to alleviate poverty and build sustainable businesses. These young inventors are tackling development in a radically new way: from the bottom up, rather than the top down. They are creating pedal-powered corn grinders, low-cost lights to reduce jaundice in newborns, small-scale wind and water powered generators, and thousands of other inventions. They believe the traditional models of NGO-style development have failed; instead, they are attempting to work with local leaders to set up businesses that will turn a profit, and therefore be sustainable.
Together with people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, they are attempting to create local manufacturing and distribution networks for the products they invent. These young inventors see themselves as citizens of the world; they want to listen and collaborate. They are energetic and hopeful, and the tasks that lie ahead are huge. Young Inventors: Global Dreams will follow three of these teams over five years, capturing the hopes, dreams, frustrations, logistical obstacles, inevitable cultural misunderstandings, exciting breakthroughs, small triumphs, and (hopefully) large victories of these young inventors as they attempt to tackle some of the world’s most difficult problems in new ways.
