User:John Barrie
| Name | John Barrie |
|---|---|
| Affiliations | Director, The Appropriate Technology Collaborative (Emeritus) |
| Location | Santa Cruz la Laguna, Guatemala |
| Nationality | United States |
| Languages | English, Spanish |
| Skills | Design of new technologies and programs to serve the world's poor. |
| Registered | 2023 |
- Brief Bio
- Speaking
- Current interests
- Appropriate Technology Designs
- Treadle Water Pump
- Solar Vaccine Refrigerator
- Amaranth Thresher
- Solar Food Dehydrator
- A Bici Powered Corn Grinder
- A Biochar Reactor
- Bici Powered Plastics Shredder
- A Ram Pump
- Insulation for Tin Roofed Homes
- Links
- Affiliations
- Resume
Brief Bio:
John Barrie is the Founder of The Appropriate Technology Collaborative, a nonprofit that designs affordable, sustainable technologies for communities living in poverty. He is an architect, mathematician, industrial designer, and former Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Michigan. His work focuses on humanitarian solar power, clean water, food preservation, and practical technologies that improve daily life in rural communities.
John is the founder of Mayan Power and Light, a program in Guatemala that teaches Mayan women about solar power, and creates Mayan woman-owned social venture businesses. In 2019 Mayan Power and Light won the Energy Globe Award for Guatemala. Since 2023 Mayan Power and Light has focused our efforts on providing solar power and clean water to families living in rural and very remote regions of Guatemala. We choose families with the assistance of ACOTCHI (The Civil Association of Traditional Midwives of Chimaltenango) who deliver over 300 babies every year in the most remote parts of central Guatemala.
In 2016 Mayan Power and Light was recognized as a “Sustainia 100”, one of the top 100 sustainable enterprises worldwide by the United Nations Compact for Sustainable Development.
In 2020 John Barrie won the American Made Solar Prize Round 1 for the design of a 20 year solar home system where all components of an off-grid solar power system are designed to last 20 years.
Speaking:
John Barrie speaks on humanitarian solar power, appropriate technology, sustainable design, and practical solutions for communities living in poverty. His talks draw on more than 20 years of field work in Guatemala and other countries, including solar home systems, solar vaccine refrigeration, water filters, food dehydration, and community-based technology programs.
Speaking information: johnbarrie.com (Domain address as of September 2026)
Current Work and Interests:
- Providing solar lights and water filters to families with newborns and small children in rural Guatemala
- Working with ACOTCHI midwives to identify families most in need
- Designing improved solar food dehydrators and other practical technologies
- Developing carbon credit mechanisms for small solar and clean technology projects
- Speaking on humanitarian solar power, appropriate technology, and community-based design
Appropriate Technology Design Descriptions:
- Treadle Water Pump - A "stair-step" pump for rural farmers.
- Solar Vaccine Refrigerator - Our Solar Vaccine Refrigerator can be made from scrap materials. It doesn't use electricity of any kind, rather it uses heat from the sun to chill ice packs for World Health Organization cold chain compliant vaccine storage.
- Amaranth Thresher - This machine winnows the hulls off of amaranth grain. What once took a family two weeks to clean amaranth for sale now takes just an hour or two.
- Solar Food Dehydrator - A simple passive solar food dehydrator. (New design in construction and testing 2026)
- A Bici Powered Corn Grinder - Bici power is an underutilized resource.
- A Biochar Reactor - A friend's design that we find easy to duplicate. Provided by permission.
- Bici Powered Plastics Shredder - We really like bici tech!
- A Ram Pump - An easy to construct and low maintenance way to move water
- Insulation for Tin Roofed Homes - This design is surprisingly effective for homes in both hot and cold climates.
Links:
- The Appropriate Technology Collaborative
- Mayan Power and Light (Spanish)
- Maker Works
- Mesoamerican Development Institute (MDI)
- Ecovillage
Affiliations:
- Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association
- Fulbright Academy of Science and Technology (Speaker)
- University of Michigan, Adjunct Assistant Professor
- Mayan Power and Light, Guatemala
- The Rotary E-Club of Lake Atitlan Guatemala
- Michigan Energy Options (Board Member 1995 - 2004)
Resume:
Awards:
- 2007, Michigan State Edison Prize, Solar Refrigeration Design (Michigan State)
- 2008, Lindbergh Grant, Solar/LED Lighting
- 2008, Boston Innovation Prize, A Low Cost Refrigeration System
- 2008, Fulbright Academy of Science and Technology, Selected Presentation, Cities for the Poor, Singapore
- 2009, Michigan State Edison Prize, Solar Refrigeration Prototype, Guatemala (Michigan State)
- 2011, Rutgers Engineers Without Borders Aresty Award
- 2011, Cornell-Gladstone-Hanlon-Kaufmann Lecture on Environmental Education, SUNY Oneonta
- 2012, Woven Wind, Winner, Dell Social Innovation - “Poverty” Category
- 2012, IEEE, IBM 1st Place Smarter Planet Challenge, (BLUELab Woven Wind, University of Michigan)
- 2012, BLUELab Woven Wind team People's Choice Award for the Dell Social Innovation Challenge
- 2013, State of Michigan Sustainability Champion Award
- 2016 M-Heal Project MESA, Ford Motor Company C3 Grant
- 2016, United Nations Sustainia Global Top 100 Sustainable Solutions
- 2017, Bay Area Global Health Innovation Challenge, Project Mesa, (M-Heal, University of Michigan)
- 2019, Energy Globe Award for Guatemala
- 2019, Exemplary Project Award by Great Lakes Renewable Energy Assocation
- 2020, United Nations Association of Detroit Sustainable Development Award
- 2024, Energy Globe Award for Guatemala
Note: Some awards listed are for student teams we mentored. We have cited the schools in parentheses.