news

JUNE 2009

dissigno welcomes Carrie McLaughlin and Nish D'Souza to the dissigno team! All three will be traveling to Tanzania to work on the Lighting and Power project for the next three to six month. Bios and pictures will be coming shortly.

dissigno Tanzania Ltd's website is live. Please check it out at dissigno Tanzania Ltd

MARCH 2009

dissigno has two new team members! Kathryn Nevard and Sekhar Suryanarayanan will be traveling to Tanzania late March to replace Joel Wessel who has been working on the lighting project. Joel returns to the states after setting up a pilot lighting rental project in Karagwe TZ. Sekhar and Kathryn will continue that work as well as set up additional pilots in one - two other communities in central and eastern Tanzania. Look for their bios soon.

DECEMBER 2008

dissigno is working with Catapult Design to identify and quantify available battery powered LED lighting technology for the Tanzania project. Please visit Catapult here: Catapult Design

dissigno's Tanzania Lighting and Power team returned from Kayanga Town, Tanzania where they were performing a preliminary site assessment. Joel Wessel remains in Kayanga Town where he is currently testing several lighting and power options for the project. Please visit the project blog for more and continuing information at: Tanzania Lighting and Power Blog

dissigno's Tanzania Lighting and Power project was recently featured in Discover Magazine. Please see the on-line version at: Discover Magazine

SEPTEMBER 2008

dissigno was interviewed by Discover Magazine for an article on innovations using confluent technologies. The article is part of Discover's October issue and can also be read here here

JULY 2008

dissigno was interviewed by WIRED for an article on off-grid lighting. Please see the article here

JULY 2008

dissigno recently added David Socher to the team as General Counsel. David brings extensive international experience to dissigno. Stay tuned to the Team section for his bio

JUNE 2008

dissigno was interviewed by CNET. Please see the article here

Please visit the Tanzania Lighting and Power Blog for more and continuing information about dissigno's Tanzania project at:

Tanzania Lighting and Power Blog

dissigno recently participated in the Design For Social Impact conference held in New York City by IDEO and The Rockefeller Foundation. IDEO’s one-day conference was an outcome of several months of interviews with companies, foundations and non-profits working in the social entrepreneurial sector, including dissigno. IDEO produced a book of results entitled Design For Social Impact.

MAY 2008

dissigno was one of 16 winners at the World Bank's first Lighting Africa Development Marketplace 2008. Of 400 proposals from around the world submitted for LADM 2008 only 16 were selected to receive grant money to implement projects throughout Africa. The dissigno team and the Tanzanian partners will begin work to bring LED lighting to nearly 3000 households through the Karagwe District. Project plans will focus on a service delivery model. This will ensure sustainability, reliable service and employment and enterprise opportunities for local residents. Read the press release here:

Download the Press Release (PDF).

More information coming soon.

JANUARY 2008

dissigno is a finalist for the Lighting Africa Development Marketplace 2008 (LADM 2008). Only 54 of the 400 proposals that were submitted for LADM 2008 were selected as finalists through a highly competitive and rigorous assessment process.

Also, please visit the Pedal Power Blog for an update on the Pedal Power Project dissigno started in Haiti at:

Pedal Power Blog

DECEMBER 2007

dissigno returned to Haiti in December 2007 to see how operations were going in Bayonnais and investigate other opportunities for Pedal Power. Bayonnais operations is running breakeven, supporting an operator, and renting nearly 60 lights to local families. dissigno also visited Sources Chaude, a community of 18,000 north of Gonaieves. Gary Zieff met with Demeter Russafov from AMURT, an NGO working there, to discuss establishing a Pedal Power Project. A trip report and pictures will be included in the below blog soon.

SEPTEMBER 2007

Please visit the Pedal Power Blog at:

Pedal Power Blog

SEPTEMBER 2007

On September 15th 2007 dissigno and Eco Systems traveled to Haiti for The Pedal Power Project, which brought distributed electricity to Bayonnais, Haiti. Currently in Bayonnais, nearly 80,000 Haitians live without access to any form of electricity. The Pedal Power Project launched a pilot using Eco System’s pedal technology for 50 families. Electricity is created through pedaling and stored in a 12-volt deep cycle battery. This in turn charges smaller 6-volt batteries called home units. The home units are then rented to members of the community with low wattage LED lights. In addition, the electricity will power electric drills and saws, charge cell phone, and power cold storage for food and medicine. The system has several advantages. The technology is less expensive, requires no fuel supply chain, and is safer and healthier. There is no fire, smoke inhalation, or burning risk. In addition, it reduces the need for wood fires, further limiting deforestation. This innovative service can scale and replicate easily with the addition of battery/LED units and generators.

dissigno and the local school OFCB partnered to operate as a “for profit” enterprise to maintain sustainability. It provides distributed electrical power & lighting for community members, creates employment opportunities, and stimulates ancillary enterprises. dissigno installed the technology, provided operation training, and enterprise support. It also assisted other community members in creating ancillary enterprises surrounding the initial product. Enterprise opportunity is the key towards poverty eradication.

DECEMBER 2006

dissigno sent Zieff to India for six weeks this past November to explore Bottom of The Pyramid opportunities. Zieff met with several companies, NGOs, government officials, and SMEs to discuss collaboration to bring developed world products and services to India. dissigno's first step will be to set up a Learning/Living/Lab to test products in developed world environments. These labs will employ representatives to administer the data collection, provide cutting edge technology to constrained communities, and create a distribution chain for introduction of future products. More here as Zieff puts together a report on his findings.

AUGUST 2006

dissigno and the Australian Trade Commission worked together to produce a Quick Market Analysis on the Ethanol Market. Read it here:

Download the white paper (PDF).

MARCH 2006

The dissigno/Nivalis business plan has been accepted as finalist in the William James Foundation business plan competition, and the Business in Development Business Plan Competition.

Read it here:

Download the business plan here (PDF).

MARCH 2006

dissigno begins discussing collaboration with Texas A&M. dissigno founders recently returned from meetings with Texas A&M's architecture department. The founders toured the colonias area of the Texas/Mexico border, where nearly 500,000 US citizens live in poverty along the 1800-mile border. Zieff and Williams talked with residents and discussed products and services that could help improve their lives.

Zieff and Williams then met with the dean and professors from the Architecture department and discussed projects on which to collaborate. These may include student mentoring, design studies, research into future dissigno products, and a Central American learning lab. Look for more news in the near future.

MARCH 2006

The dissigno/Nivalis business plan was recently accepted into the Investors Circle. The selection process was concluded in March 2006, with the Nivalis plan joining a small group presented to Investor Circle members for consideration of angel investement. The Nivalis plan, along with other social enterprises, focuses on a triple bottom line: creating a sustainable business venture, returning capital to investors, and returning positive social changes.

The complexity of the energy business is habitually distilled down to familiar talking points. Williams tries to remove some of the fog of chaos to bring reason back to the argument. Read D.T. Williams white paper,"Habits Over Hype"

Download the white paper (PDF).

D.T. Williams explores the viability of thermoelectric cold preservation for rural applications. Read D.T. Williams white paper,"Human Powered Cold Storage"

Download the white paper (PDF).

The importance of refrigeration is fundamental to meeting the UN Millennium Mandate Goals. Read D.T. Williams white paper,"Ranque-Hilsch Vortex Tube for Refrigeration in Developing Communities"

Download the white paper (PDF).

SEPTEMBER 12, 2005

Nivalis - A desert dessert - Ice from compressed air - FEATURED IN TIME MAGAZINE

Download the press release (PDF).