The shrill buzz of a skill saw cuts through the afternoon air at Nepal Communitere. It’s late on a Friday, but a few members of the Nepal Robotics Association are working on their weather station prototype, which aims to monitor and predict weather patterns for farmers. Others are discussing plans for a disaster risk reduction early warning system, an application of machine learning to predict floods.
The young engineers are working in Communitere’s “maker space,” a shipping container turned haven for building and creating. Wrenches and pliers line the wall and a sketched robot watches from the dry erase board.
The Robotics Association was the first to move into Communitere, a post-disaster resource center and innovation hub located in Patan, just south of Kathmandu.
About the author
Kelli Rogers@kellierin
Kelli Rogers has worked as an Associate Editor and Southeast Asia Correspondent for Devex, with a particular focus on gender. Prior to that, she reported on social and environmental issues from Nairobi, Kenya. Kelli holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and has reported from more than 20 countries.