Blog Posts

Blog Posts

We need a few good programmers…in C and JavaScript…

The VentMon project shows great promise in testing and monitoring emergency pandemic ventilators. I can’t keep up with all the features we need to add. We need some high-quality programming volunteered in C and JavaScript. Check out the descriptions and see if you are interested. Contact Robert L. Read for more information.

We need a few good programmers…in C and JavaScript… Read More »

Public Invention receives $20,000 grant from Protocol Labs for VentMon

Public Invention has received a $20,000 grant from Protocol Labs to build the VentMon, a tester/monitor for rapidly manufactured pandemic ventilators. The pandemic demands a simple device that can be plugged into an airway to test a ventilator. In the developing world, many ventilators are broken and need to be repaired; part of the repairing

Public Invention receives $20,000 grant from Protocol Labs for VentMon Read More »

What Makes A Good Public Invention Project? (long form)

“80% of projects are trivial. 20% are impossible. We must work in the thin boundary between these two classes.” — Edsger Dijkstra (quoted from memory) Public Invention fosters project-based invention teams that work “In the public, for the public.” Experience has shown this is a great way to learn, although learning is a secondary benefit

What Makes A Good Public Invention Project? (long form) Read More »

The Fuller Scale: A Unit of Humanitarian Invention Impact

Science is about truth; engineering is about compromise. At Public Invention, we do both, but perhaps more engineering than science. Our goal is to have a large positive impact on many people; but time and money are always in short supply.  How, then, to compromise on which projects to prioritize? In order to be able

The Fuller Scale: A Unit of Humanitarian Invention Impact Read More »