QueenTech Non-Profit Work

I received a grant from Olin to work in Ghana for 3 months post-graduation at QueenTech as an extension of my senior capstone project. QueenTech is a non-profit that equips women with safe, affordable food processing machines. This enables women entrepreneurs in Ghana to be financially independent and reduces the economic gender gap. Additionally, QueenTech's machines are unique from others on the market as they are made with food-grade materials, ensuring that the food processed is safe to eat. 

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While I was in Ghana, QueenTech was a small team, so I got to wear many hats and work on all sorts of problems that would come up. Below is a list of the tasks I worked on: 

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Improving manufacturing

- designed and tested new jigs

- timed, observed, and suggested improvements to each step of a manufacturing process

- designed parts for ease of manufacturing

- manufactured machines (sheet metal manufacturing, drilling, spot-welding, assembly)

- purchased tools to speed up manufacturing

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Managing costs

- worked on design changes that would use less material

- created a bill of materials for both machines

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R&D

- visited a commercial maize grating site to understand the current tech for a new maize grating machine 

- designed, prototyped, and tested ideas for a new machine that grates maize 

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User-Experience Design

- site visits to customers using our machines to learn about the way they use our machines

- consideration of user safety when designing parts

- scripted and recorded instructional videos for QueenTech's users

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Fundraising

- wrote and designed graphics for grant applications that could support QueenTech long-term

- worked on the graphic design of a Ghanaian recipe book for sale in the US for short-term fundraising

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Branding

- designed a website for QueenTech

- scripted and recorded a marketing video