EMI Tech

EMI Architect Mathieu Lembelembe shares his experience with the knowledge gap between built-environment professionals and local builders and craftsmen in rural Africa.

Structural Design When the Lights Go Out

Many project trips experience inconsistent power supply. How do we effectively perform structural design when computers are not an option?

Flood Risk Management Hierarchy

EMI Staff member David B. explains the Flood Risk Management Hierarchy and how to utilize it to create a holistic intervention plan for flood resiliency.

Can We Drink the Water?

Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Jeffrey D. Niemann, Ph.D. overviews relevant water quality properties and methods for assessing those properties.

An East African Microgrid

Exploring the EMI-designed ‘microgrid’ electricity supply system for rural East Africa.

Rainwater Catchment Systems

Most EMI project trips involve some type of water supply, storage, and distribution system.

Sustainable Wastewater Solutions

Civil Engineer Jeff Wing, P.E. presents a webinar case study on biodigester use in Cambodia in review of sustainable wastewater solutions.

R&D: Soil Absorption, The Heart of Wastewater Disposal

Many of EMI's projects rely upon on-site absorption systems to treat wastewater. EMI Tech dives into how these systems work, what variations are possible and when each might be most appropriate.

R&D: The Variations in Percolation Tests

A percolation test is performed on most EMI project trips. However, how do variations in how this test is performed affect the designs we complete?

Electrical Owner's Representative

Electrical Engineer Hannah Peterson, P.E. presents a webinar on EMI's Owner's Rep strategy for the implementation of electrical engineering projects.

Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment

Structural Engineer Craig Cole, S.E. presents a webinar on structural assessments for mitigation of vulnerabilities to disasters such as earthquakes.

Hybrid Building Systems

Can we honor and utilize local construction practices in our designs while also implementing modern improvements?

Solar Power Design

Electrical Engineer Hannah Peterson, P.E. presents a webinar on the evaluation and design of economical and reliable site power solutions.

Sustainability & Agriculture

For agriculture in a given setting to be ‘sustainable’, a host of factors must be evaluated.

Getting Design & Construction on the Appropriate Track

EMI Uganda’s Matt Lammers presents a webinar case study on a structural evaluation and redesign project in DR Congo.

R&D: Appropriate Design

How can EMI design structures and build facilities that are appropriate for ministries and beneficiaries we serve?

Development Design and Flood Risks

How and why should we perform flood risk assessments of EMI projects?

R&D: Brick, Brick, Block

Uganda’s R&D team gives a summary evaluation of four different types of bricks and blocks commonly available for projects in East Africa.

Digging Deeper

How should we approach geotechnical exploration to better inform our design and construction efforts?

R&D: Radiant Heat and Indoor Environments

Without centralized air conditioning, how do we go about creating indoor environments where people can comfortably work, play and live?

Earth and Water

Creating sources of water: design parameters for the construction of earthen dams.

Same Materials, Different Buildings

Concrete frame with masonry infill, and confined masonry: how do these two systems differ?

EMI for the Electrical Engineer

The role of the Electrical Engineer in EMI’s four-stage work-flow for EE projects

Compressed Earth Blocks

Compressed Earth Blocks: Learning from the forensic diagnosis of distressed CEB buildings in West Africa

Beyond Septic tanks

EMI teams are usually very reluctant to recommend a wastewater treatment system that has any level of mechanization or sophistication.

Water for Crops

The irrigation system in Guayabal, Dominican Republic, has not functioned for 14 years.

Constructible Criticism

Engineering Ministries International teams are routinely asked to comment on the existing construction at a ministry site.

Not Just H20

When I first volunteered with EMI, I saw the importance of testing water firsthand. We were designing a master plan for a 26- acre Bible school property in Samfya, Zambia.

EMI Tech Editors

Matthew Coffey

Matthew spent most of his adult life in India, learning culture and language, and how to serve Indian ministries through the technical ministry of EMI. Matthew has also been involved in editing and publishing for EMI in print and on the web for over 15 years. He serves as EMI's Communication Director and Editor, managing a team of full and part-time staff and contributors to EMI Communications. Married to Ivy, an architect from Hong Kong, the Coffeys and their two boys live in Colorado Springs, USA.