Designing for a Difference

By Michelle A. Monroe

Cryocooler manager Mei-Li Hey considers her work at Northrop Grumman just one part of her identity as an engineer. The other is the nonprofit that she co-founded to provide assistive devices to persons with disabilities in Uganda.

Mei-Li was a sophomore at the University of San Diego when she attended a speech by Margaret Orech, founder of the Uganda Landmine Survivors Association.

In 1998, Margaret lost the bottom half of her right leg when the bus she was riding detonated a landmine. She shared that learning to walk again was difficult, but the hardest part of adapting to her disability was using the bathroom.

Most Ugandans do not have access to a sewer system and instead rely on pit latrines, which are simple holes in the ground. Those who do not have full use of their lower extremities cannot independently use a pit latrine in a safe, sanitary manner.

Sitting in the audience, Mei-Li wondered if she could help.

Over the next few months, Mei-Li teamed up with a few students and professors to complete several prototypes to address the challenges of using a pit latrine, sharing the devices virtually with Margaret and others from the association to get feedback.

In January 2016, a little over a year after Margaret spoke on campus, Mei-Li went to Uganda with the prototypes.

“It was a bit overwhelming at first because many of the problems we observed felt much greater than what could be solved with our devices,” said Mei-Li, who was in Uganda for nearly three weeks. “Spending a lot of time with people and building a connection with them really assisted in getting meaningful insight.”