Some have accused us of being a collection of Luddites (wikipedia) - against technological progress and technological change. Perhaps a reasonable assumption from their perspective, since most of the Foundations and "Help Africa" organisations on this planet seem to expend considerable energy on teaching "simple" technologies that for some reason they believe are appropriate to Africa. We've heard them all - wind up radios - super simplified computers - rope pumps - solar cookers - Africa cars - and so on ad nauseam. What we are actually saying is quite the opposite - if Rural Africa wants clean water and cookers then they have to get it the same way we do - with pumping stations and electricity. What it has to be is affordable - and that can only be done if those generators and pumps are manufactured within the economic zone they are used - and those services are paid for by people who have jobs.
Our people are those who understand the generating station made in the West is actually itself an uncomplicated technology that can also be made in Africa - if the knowledge of how to do it is transfered. The people on our team are experienced in the world of Western Industry - they know how to design and use CNC machinery - they know about manufacturing motors, generators and pumps - they know the chemistry and the processes of refining oils - they know how to dig iron ore out of the ground and reduce it to iron and steels before casting and machining it into the form of a tractor - and some know how to do that sort of thing very efficiently when using biomass fuels. None believe Roman age rope pumps and 100 Dollar computers gifted by someone else to be anything other than a waste of time and money. Some are shown below - in no particular order past the top two - the rest when they get a "round tuit" - (a tuit seems to be something needed before divulging personal information). So this will be a "Page under construction" for a while yet.
Örjan Ring - Founder of the Group and the Foundation - based in Gothenburg Sweden.
Enjoys building machinery - using CAD - and driving snowploughs - he also owns the Foundation office building and has supported the Foundation financially from the start. Best described as a "philanthropist landlord" - a true philanthropist he is. Also a sailor and a steam enthusiast - (sometimes has to be restrained from fitting our prototype tractor engines into his launch).
Henk Bouius - Manufacturing Engineer - based in Waihi New Zealand
Henk trained with the Philips Corporation in Eindhoven Holland - Toolmaker, Tool designer, Production Machine designer and builder - and commissioned a few factories. He retired as Chief Engineer of the Pye Electronics/Philips Industries manufacturing plants in NZ to run his farm. He was co-founder of the Industrial Technology Group in 1987, which led to the creation of 14 companies and many jobs, after Philips ceased their NZ manufacturing operations.
Darian Demierre - Chairman of the Foundation - based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Darian is the stabilising one - with management and administration, rather than engineering, qualifications. He has years of experience administering a Hi Tech development team made up of many individualists from many nations - a preeminent qualification for this task. A Canadian who studied in Sweden and graduated as a Master of Business Administration.
Frank Williams - Project Engineer - based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Fitter Machinist. Familiar with Steam, Fibre Spinning, Electronics, Medical Imaging, Process control, Heavy electrics, RF communications, CAD/CAM/CNC, Plastics and diverse Manufacturing technologies. Trained in New Zealand and worked for many Multinational Companies over the years. Also the one to blame if the text on this site is too much.
Jan Friberg - Product Designer - based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Hardware and Software designer. Experienced with Power Converters, Stepping drives, Brushless DC Motors, Frequency Synthesis and embedded processors. Graduated from Chalmers Technical University, Sweden, as a Master of Science. Presently seconded to Ring Machine Tools AB.
Joachim Wigström - Chemical Engineer - based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Joachim is the one who can picture the various molecular processes going on with transesterification etc. He is also experienced in the process control equipment needed and enjoys using CNC machinery to create the parts he wants. Another Chalmers graduate awarded a Master of Science degree.
Jason McVeigh - Farmer - based in Invercargill, New Zealand.
Jason and his wife Bridgette are the farming team spending a year studying farming in West Africa and how the Foundations objectives can be adapted to African conditions. Jason has learned his craft from the "apprenticeship" on his family farm through to the management of large scale commercial farms in New Zealand.
Alf Sääf - Mining Engineer - based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Dr Getachew Assefa - Chemical Engineer - Lecturer - based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Getachew holds a B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. An M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Infrastructure (EESI) in the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm and a Ph.D in Industrial Ecology. He has his own consultancy firm Sustainable Africa
Anders Ljungberg - Master Foundryman - based in Emmaboda , Sweden.
Andrea Lennberg - based in Gothenburg Sweden.
Andrea is our contact and liaison person - and the one who ensures mail gets answered and appointments are kept. She also organises expo's and travel and what have you - even sees to that the other members at the office get nutritious meals instead of junkfood every day!
Johan Åkesson - Master Foundryman - based in Månsarp, Sweden.
Fredrik Widinger - Master Machinist - based in Gothenburg, Sweden
"Every man must decide
whether he will walk in the
creative light of altruism or
the darkness of destructive
selfishness. This is the
judgment. Life's persistent
and most urgent question is
"What are you doing for others?"
King, Jr., Martin Luther
