In July of 2005, two Princeton students, Ishani Sud '08 and Julianne Davis '08, traveled to the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya to help local communities learn science-based solutions for improving their lives.

Under the supervision of Dr. Winston O. Soboyejo at Princeton, the students developed a solar oven for cooking designed to replace wood-fueled stoves. Implementation of the solar oven took place over six weeks within the Kenyan community, with two schools chosen as the vehicle for transfer of technology. One was a primary school for the children of Mpala Research Centre employees. The other was the Lekiji School, a public primary and secondary school for the children of the local community. Davis and Sud worked with classes in grades one, two, seven, and eight for two days a week on a program of conservation, solar energy, and renewable vs. non-renewable energy sources.

The older students were able to explore more complex topics, and spent one additional day each week physically building a solar oven that they were later able to bring home. Small experiments were conducted throughout the building process to help students understand how the ovens functioned. The final step involved a "parent day" during which the students shared what they learned, with the older students showing their parents how the solar ovens work. Care was taken to explain the oven's usage in a culturally sensitive manner, explaining how local recipes can be adapted for cooking in the solar oven.

In addition to the solar oven, several other projects were also started, including solar charged lanterns for lighting in an ecotourism lodge, solar panels for charging batteries for a mobile clinic, a solar/manual pool pump, and a solar hot water heater.