(by Jean Muehlfelt - Dec. 5, 2013)

What would it be like to walk up to your light switch and wonder if the lights will come on today? Or, will they work but flicker most of the day? For many millions of people around the world, these are everyday questions.

When radio stations with sensitive electronics attempt to provide programming to their audience, unreliable power can bring about expensive repairs through power surges or sags from the utility company.

For many years, engineers at the HCJB Global Technology Center, in Elkhart, Ind., have been recommending some general purpose surge-protection devices-larger versions of the type protecting most computers. After years of helping partners around the world with equipment repairs, the engineers realized that power problems in various countries are not the same.

To design a device called the Equipment Power Protection Unit (EPP), the engineers wanted outside help. So they challenged young college interns to spend a few weeks each summer in Elkhart to move the EPP project along to completion.

This past summer, five junior and senior college interns came to the Technology Center to help on several electrical projects. Not only would they bring some of the latest ideas in products and procedures, but they would also learn practical skills and see how they could apply their training to God's work around the world.

The EPP project has two main purposes in the field: first, to disconnect the radio station from the electrical source if the power situation could damage the equipment; second, to keep a running log of what the electricity is doing so that the engineers at the center could recommend additional protective measures tailored to the specific problems at that particular radio station.

Interns Ron Campbell and Seth Foote were assigned to the EPP project for 10 weeks. Campbell worked to turn the circuit design he inherited from the previous summer's interns into something workable and reliable. Foote worked on the software that monitors and responds to power surges, brownouts and other fluctuations. The young men were not able to complete the EPP project, but they moved sections of it along into a more usable product.

Two other interns, David Palmer and Daniel Richard, were given the job of evaluating five prototype solar-powered lampposts that were designed and built by engineering students from schools that were competing in a design contest.

The project, birthed last year, challenged various university engineering departments to provide a product that would give affordable nighttime street lighting and daytime charging stations for mobile phones to remote areas of the world. Schools taking part in the contest included Calvin College in Michigan, Cedarville University in Ohio, Grove City College in Pennsylvania, John Brown University in Arkansas and Seattle Pacific University in Washington.

The resulting solar-powered lamppost project was deemed "very successful" but needed a full evaluation before the units could be built and made available to media and medical partners of HCJB Global.

Palmer and Richard were assigned the task of evaluating the prototype designs from the five schools. With the help of mentoring engineers, they erected the lampposts outside on the Technology Center's grounds and took regular readings on the functions of the mechanical and electrical components.

At the end of their 10 weeks, the two interns provided documentation and reports on each lamppost. They also identified the best ideas from each of the competing colleges and made recommendations on a product that could be finalized and built for other parts of the world.

The fifth summer intern, Cody Hall, helped on an ongoing project to provide design improvements to a deep-well pump that will be used in remote villages in Africa. World Vision funded the equipment for the project that will be used to bring a more reliable water supply to disadvantaged Africans.

Hall traveled to Malawi last summer to assist in the initial installations. "I was part of a team that installed two pumps in two separate villages in Malawi, and they are working very well," he said. "I also designed the installation equipment-a tripod and also a hand clamp that can be used by up to 10 people at a time during the installation."

Charles Jacobson, director of engineering and development at the Technology Center, stated, "Our purpose is to expose engineering students to real-world opportunities within the context of missions. Technically gifted people can contribute to God's kingdom work."

Source: HCJB Global