Addressing Infrastructure Needs for Indigenous Populations
Bodaway Gap, a significant chapter within the Navajo Nation, operates under U.S. jurisdiction yet maintains a unique degree of autonomy, distinguishing it both geographically and administratively. This large and remote area faces specific resource allocation and governance challenges, setting it apart from typical U.S. municipalities due to its status as a sovereign Native American territory. After contextually investigating the needs and conditions of the chapter, CERG learned that the primary infrastructure need is a sustainable water system for livestock, which is vital for the community’s economic and social resilience. This initiative aims to strategically install water storage tanks at locations where ponds have sufficient capacity to both sustain themselves and produce overflow during the wet season, ensuring water availability during the dry season, as the territory lacks alternative water sources such as springs or deep wells. The project emphasizes the application of contextual engineering, integrating local socio-economic, cultural, and environmental factors into a co-design process with the community to ensure that development efforts align with the unique characteristics and needs of Bodaway Gap, thereby enhancing project sustainability and acceptance.
In previous research within the Bodaway Gap area, 126 reservoir points and 118 usage points were identified, leading to the selection of 13 potential ponds after a frequency analysis based on the drainage area and existing pond capacities. Ongoing efforts include detailed assessments of volume capacity and proximity to local communities to optimize logistics and minimize resources like gasoline for water retrieval. Additionally, a recent field trip in August 2024 gathered more data on water infiltration and evaporation that was previously gathered in March of this year, and enhanced community engagement and alignment with local authority insights on the proposed tank locations. Future plans include confirming 3 of the 13 proposed points and introducing a primary water treatment line to manage the quality of stored water, addressing potential issues with sediment and bacteria that could proliferate in the closed environment of a storage tank.
Overall, the project represents a strategic, informed effort to enhance water resource management in Bodaway Gap, directly addressing the critical needs of livestock and, by extension, the community’s economic stability. By incorporating contextual engineering principles and ongoing community engagement, the project aims to create a water management system that is not only efficient and sustainable but also respectful and responsive to the local cultural and environmental contexts. This project is supported through a grant from the National Science Foundation, and is being performed in collaboration with Bodaway Gap Chapter, Navajo Nation.
Research investigators: Xiomara Echeverria Ortiz (ABE) and Julissa Nunez (ABE)
Contextualizing Climate-Change Entrepreneurship in Zambia
This contextual investigation involves ethnographically studying an Italian for-profit startup organization with the expressed intent of engaging with rural communities in Zambia to address challenges related to deforestation. This organization represents a position that most intervening Western entities find themselves in: they need to build a project that serves their business needs and nurtures the community’s sense of agency to maintain the project long-term – all while facing the baggage of colonial power dynamics.Between interactions with local Zambians hired by the organization, discussions with the co-founders, interviews with cookstove recipients, and contextual observations, this research obtains a very detailed “behind the scenes” snapshot from the viewpoint of several stakeholders. This investigation seeks to understand how project implementation and technology adoption is impacted by these historical power imbalances, despite efforts from the organization to overcome these dynamics.
Research Investigator: Jess Mingee (ABE)
Electric-Vehicle Infrastructure Contextualization For Equity/Impact
Maximum demand charges (MDCs) are a well-recognized barrier to the widespread deployment of electric vehicle fast-charging facilities (EVFCFs) across the US. A number of solutions, including deployment of battery energy storage, renewable energy, and smart charging systems, to the MDC problem are discussed in the literature. Various US electric utilities have also proposed and implemented EVFCF-specific rate structures to address the MDC issue. However, our previous research has shown that the successful deployment of a solution to a technical problem is equally dependent upon its technical ingenuity and contextual appropriacy. To that end, this project formulates a contextual decision-making process which utilizes contextual data collected by the researchers in Paducah, KY, to determine contextually appropriate solution to the MDC problem.
Research Investigator: Muhammad Talal Khalid (ECE)
Addressing Intrinsic Power Dynamics in Infrastructure Planning
In collaboration with the organization Humanity and Hope United Foundation, this research partners with the community of Dos Caminos to investigate community agency and decision-making power in water infrastructure design. Utilizing participatory methods and asset-based strategies, engineering designers engage the community directly in technical considerations. Throughout this process, research investigates how an engineer’s understanding of their own identity impacts their technical decision making as well as the community’s acceptance of the technology. Additionally, researchers have examined whether organizational and technical intervention has affected the community’s agency, encouraging or supressing expression of personal wants and ability to challenge outside stakeholders to state their priorities.
Research Investigators: Emily Lawson-Bulten (ABE) and Connor LaSalle (ABE)
Optimization of Stand-Alone Solar Power Units Based on Context of the Navajo Nation’s Bodaway Gap Chapter
This research is conducted in the westernmost chapter of the Navajo Nation, specifically within the grazing lands stretching from the southern to the northern regions. These areas are inhabited by families primarily engaged in cattle ranching. As the distance from the main highway increases, accessibility to water and electricity becomes increasingly limited. The only viable solution for electrification in these remote areas has been through renewable energy sources, notably standalone photovoltaic (SAPV) systems, also referred to as mini-grids.
The research focuses on two key aspects:
First, it aims to identify the current electrical needs of the residents relying on SAPV systems. This includes understanding whether there is an aspiration to expand the use of electrical devices and assessing the sufficiency of the mini-grid systems in meeting these needs. Additionally, the study seeks to explore future plans for expanding these systems and integrating additional devices.
Second, the research investigates the environmental factors that influence the generation capacity of these SAPV units, aiming to determine the optimal energy output under local conditions. By addressing both the consumption patterns and environmental characteristics, the study seeks to propose the most efficient and sustainable solutions for the SAPV systems in this context. This project is supported through a grant from the National Science Foundation and is being performed in partnership with Bodaway Gap Chapter, Navajo Nation.
Research Investigators: Melody Famil Rasoulian (ECE) and Abhiroop Chattopadhyay (ECE)
A Contextual Assessment of Dam Siting and Operation in Mambwe District, Zambia
Rural Agricultural Livelihood Surveys spanning 2012 to 2019 indicate the Eastern Province of Zambia has the highest chronic poverty in the nation, much of it relating to food security. In 2013, the Climate Resilient Infrastructure Development Facility (CRIDF) together with Zambia Ministry of Agriculture began construction of Chikowa Dam with the aim of creating an irrigation scheme that would increase agricultural production and provide water security for 540 people. From 2017 to 2021, the World Bank’s Zambia Water Resource Development Project (ZWRDP) aligned itself with Country Partnership Framework (CPF) objectives to support rural communities better cope with climatic shocks, move the agri-food sector from Maize dependent but open up other crop markets thus increase the economic benefits and also transition the dependence on rain-fed agricultural production. This meant supporting construction of Irrigation Infrastructure like Chikowa Dam. About 100 dams were planned to be built and renovated through the World Bank program but only 10 were slated for construction.
This research will assess the impact and sustainability of dams constructed in non-industrialized societies by Western development agencies upon the intended users of the dams for agriculture and aquaculture purposes. Using Chikowa Dam, built in Chikowa Ward of Mambwe district, Zambia, as a case study, the research pursues the following objectives:
- To identify the role of traditional Zambian leaders in dam water management for agricultural production and aquaculture in Mambwe district
- To examine the environmental factors considered in site selection and construction of Chikowa dam in Mambwe district
- To analyze the socio-economic value of using the dam water for agricultural production and aquaculture in Mambwe district
- To identify any human-human or human-animal conflict that may exist in using the Chikowa dam water in Mambwe district.
Research Investigator: Crispin Cholwe (ETMAS)
Contextualizing Identification of Energy Solutions in Austere Societies
This research focuses on providing non-industrialized communities with renewable energy technologies. Despite their huge potential, they encounter challenges that hinder their long-term success including high failure rates primarily due to a mismatch between the technical solutions engineers propose and the cultural and social contexts of the people these solutions are meant to serve. These gaps are addressed by integrating community knowledge into the design process, ensuring that solutions are sustainable, reliable, and deeply rooted in the specific needs of the community. The framework employs a mixed methods approach involving the contextual engineering approach and multi-criteria decision-making models to engage community stakeholders in identifying and prioritizing their needs and ensuring their input shapes the planning process. By leveraging the principles of contextual engineering, this research aims to create renewable energy solutions that empower these communities, giving them reliable electricity that aligns with their way of life. This research is supported through funding by the US Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratory.
Research Investigator: Listowell Appiah (ECE)
A Novel and Equitable DER Valuation Methodology in Distribution Networks
Today Net Energy Metering (NEM) is the main policy vehicle that allows customers with roof-top solar or other types of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) to receive credits for the excess generation they add to the grid. Under most NEM policies, DER customers sell excess electricity at full retail price. Although this structure helped the widespread growth of DER and renewable energy, it is argued to subsidize DER at the expense of non-DER customers. In that regard, value-based compensation has emerged as a potential alternative NEM compensation method. DER can provide various benefits to the distribution system, including energy, reliability, resilience, environmental, societal, and investment deferral. Each benefit has an individual value, and calculating these values is challenging. To that end, this research formulates a novel technical and practical methodology for the locational value of DER, and proposes an equitable redistribution of otherwise subsidies, by minimizing energy burden to disadvantaged customers, all while using contextual considerations to inform the final technical and equitable methodology. This research will focus on communities in California and Baltimore.
Research Investigator: Tamer Rousan (ECE)
Past Projects
- Contextualization of public transit route-development process to address transportation equity issues among marginalized populations
- Rural Mental Health Contextualization; examining the availability of services, need for treatment, and impediments to service delivery for rural communities coping with increasing depression, anxiety, and stress. Research in partnership with Social Work faculty and Applied Research Institute Algorithm & Software scientists. Funding support from the University of Illinois Center for Social and Behavioral Sciences.
- Economic Impact to Rural Communities resulting from climate change; examining U.S. farming communities and how context governs decision-making in agriculture to affect community practices and economies. Research in partnership with Atmospheric Sciences and Agricultural & Consumer Economics faculty, and Applied Research Institute Algorithm & Software scientists at University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana; and Economics and Management, Marketing & Operations faculty from University of Illinois Springfield.
- Contextual Examination of National Service Organization; examining the foundational objectives, organizational dynamics, and performance impediments from both the top-down structure and bottom-up experience for a large service organization supporting undergraduate learning and entrepreneurship.
- Contextualizing Coastline Community Response to Great Lakes shoreline erosion; examining community needs and interrelationships throughout the Great Lakes basin so that synergistic activities may be identified to support sustainability of coastlines through the increasing uncertainty associated with climate change impacts.