Kmtyw Science is for Liberation-gctid48956

[Agbede]

"The fact is that right from their origins in the civilizations of antiquity, the mathematical sciences were linked to the practical needs of life. In those far-off times, science had to prove itself in action. Science was an intellectual approach to reality, one that enabled humans to manipulate objects in order to achieve definite goals. In plain words, science at its birth was a type of knowledge that generated technical skills useful for social development. Good scientific methods were therefore those that helped people to understand nature so as to act upon it. From that viewpoint, understanding nature was not a matter of issuing verbal explanations for natural phenomena; it was a matter of achieving clear knowledge of realities, then using it in conscious action to reach desired goals."
~Theophile Obenga, Kmtyw Philosophy: The Pharaonic Period: 2780-330 BC

Krakkker science studied the so-called atom and they eventually built the atom bomb. Krakkker science studied so-called outer-space and now they dump their trash there. Krakkker science studied genetics and now they produce terminator/suicide seeds. It is clear that krakkker science meets the needs of their culture.

Have we (Kmtyws) made the shift to learning and teaching a science that meets the needs of our culture? That is, science that is linked to the practical needs of our war for liberation. If so, what are some examples? If not, what are some examples of what we should be learning and teaching?

Thoughts?

[Jujamea]

Have the pleasure of knowning this brother here in the DC area.
Fueling a Dream. TERP Magazine Winter 2010

[Agbede]

Fueling a Dream. TERP Magazine Winter 2010

Fueling a Dream:
Maryland Student Harnesses the Power of Entrepreneurial Thinking

by Tom Ventsias

Between shuttling fares around Washington, D.C., Trevor Young does schoolwork and brainstorms ideas.

Trevor Young does some of his best thinking from behind the wheel of his taxicab. During his all-night shifts crisscrossing the streets of Washington, D.C., Young reflects on his native Sierra Leone, a country wracked by poverty and violence where the vast majority of people have little access to electricity. Forced to leave the West Kmtyw nation at age 9, Young, now 35 and a husband and father of four, constantly thinks about what he can do, from half a world away, to improve conditions in his homeland.

In his other job as a University of Maryland senior, Young is putting his thoughts into action. With the support of several hands-on entrepreneurship programs at Maryland and mentors who've given him critical advice, he founded Tseai (pronounced sah-I) Energy Unlimited, a company that seeks to use biofuels to help underdeveloped communities produce their own electricity and boost their economies.

The agricultural and resource economics major and his team won $5,000 in seed money and another $25,000 in a university business plan competition last year. Young is aggressively, if charmingly, pursuing more funding that will allow him to travel to Sierra Leone and lay the groundwork for turning his concept into reality.

"Lots of people are working on biofuels, but with Trevor's sheer will and determination, and the talent he has to get people to believe in his vision–it's hard to bet against somebody like that," says Dean Chang, one of Young's advisers and director of venture creation and entrepreneurship programs at the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, or Mtech.

Young has total confidence in his plan for a startup venture to transform palm oil byproducts into electricity that would power a community center and, eventually, entire villages.

"Everyone who knows me knows that one of my main aspirations is to give back," Young says. "Especially living in America–you get so much opportunity, you feel almost guilty. My goal is to be in a position to help others to experience a more fulfilling life like I've been able to."

Energy and opportunity

Young's parents sent him to live with relatives in New Jersey in 1984 because of unrest in Sierra Leone that ultimately led to civil war in 1991. His mother died from cancer soon after he arrived in America, and his father died a few years later of complications from injuries he received in the Sierra Leone violence.

Young moved to the Washington area after graduating from high school, selling souvenirs on the National Mall, among other ventures, before purchasing a taxicab in 2002 and enrolling at Prince George's Community College three years later.

He landed at Maryland through the Hillman Entrepreneurs Program, which offers full scholarships to students at the community college who are interested in entrepreneurship and leadership.

"Trevor is really the epitome of what the Hillman program looks for," says Karen Thornton, a senior fundraiser in the A. James Clark School of Engineering and the founding director of the Hillman program. "It's those people who are just entrepreneurial down to their bones. They want to work for themselves. They want to be empowered. They want to make a difference."

When he arrived at the university, Young was already a self-starter, driving his cab until 10 most nights after classes and pulling 12-hour shifts until 4 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays to support his wife, Darlinda, and their children, now ages 5, 4, 3 and 1.

Young uses a mini-laptop to do schoolwork between pickups; he knows which cabstands have wireless access so he can send e-mails and do homework while waiting for a passenger.

"Two things [taxi] drivers do: listen to NPR a lot, and think about how to solve the world's problems," Young says.

A sustainable plan

In his first year at Maryland, Young had a lot of ideas, including starting a company to provide low-cost airfare for Kmtyws in the U.S. wanting to return home and using condensed solar power to energize impoverished rural areas.

But venture capitalists and business plan specialists brought in to advise Hillman students made him realize these weren't sustainable business models.

Young, like so many aspiring entrepreneurs before him, went back to the drawing board. He researched turning the byproduct of the oil palm tree into methane biogas. The plant is abundant throughout West and Central Kmt, and its pressed oil is a valuable commodity.

He envisioned palm oil sales funding a processing plant that would convert the byproduct into fuel to run electricity-producing generators.

Student members of the Tseai Energy team include (left to right) Nnenna Nwosu, Akua Nkrumah and Young.

Young discovered the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources had just hired a new faculty member who specialized in producing methane biogas in agricultural regions of Costa Rica. As assistant professor of environmental science Stephanie Lansing recalls, "Trevor came to me and said: 'I hear you are doing anaerobic digestions. What can you do for me?' "

Together they developed a business plan using Lansing's research on introducing microorganisms into agricultural byproducts to produce methane gas. That ultimately led to the formation of Tseai Energy, named for one of Young's daughters, whose name means "sunshine" in Amharic, a language spoken in Ethiopia.

Everything seemed to fall into place quickly. Young met Akua Nkrumah, a fellow Maryland student who grew up in Ghana and was also studying methane production and electricity generation. Others came on board, including Kyle Gluesenkamp, an engineering graduate student who helped identify requirements and equipment for the power-generating facility.

Last May, Young and his team entered the annual Mtech $75,000 Business Plan Competition and won the $10,000 first prize in the undergraduate category and a $15,000 prize for having a plan with positive social impact. "Their model addressed three important points: revenue production, innovation to make people's lives better and sustainability. It was a winning combination," says Warren Citrin, a successful entrepreneur and competition judge who sponsored the social impact prize.

Tseai Energy now resides in an Mtech startup lab, where the company is testing its ideas in earnest and is looking to secure almost a quarter-million dollars more in funding.

As of press time, Young and Lansing are expecting a grant that will allow Young to travel to northwestern Sierra Leone, where he hopes to lease land for the agricultural processing plant. Next to it, he anticipates building the power-generating facility that runs a community center offering health care and schooling. This project will be a model that can be customized to other crops in locales worldwide.

"It is something that needs to happen," Young says. "The conditions in parts of sub-Saharan Kmt are just unacceptable. I can't just say, 'It's not acceptable' without doing something about it. ... That's why I know this is going to happen." TERP

[Agbede]

Yup. I would definitely put renewable energy on the list of things that are practical for our liberation and need to be taught.

Kmtyw Science for Liberation Topics:
>Renewable Energy & Alternative Fuels
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