As representatives of Breathe Almaty, we recently had the privilege of delivering a presentation to a distinguished audience at AlmaU, sharing our vision for a cleaner, healthier Almaty. The anticipation leading up to the event was palpable, as we navigated a whirlwind of emotions, battling nerves, and addressing the challenges of presenting in English, a second language for many of our team members.

Preparing for the presentation was an intense process, filled with countless hours of research, creating good slides, and crafting a compelling narrative. We prepared a lot with our professor, but now the task of delivering our project was on us. We knew the significance of this opportunity to raise awareness about the detrimental effects of air pollution, as well as prove the time, dedication, and effort leading into our project was justified. However, as the time to go to the 6th floor approached, we couldn’t escape the jitters that come with standing before an esteemed audience at Alma University.

For our team members whose first language is not English, there was an added layer of pressure. English proficiency had never been a barrier to their expertise and our communication, but the thought of presenting complex ideas or conveying nuanced messages in a foreign language brought them moments of self-doubt and unease. Despite this, we rallied together, trying our best to be supportive and encouraging every step of the way.

Navigating the complexities of presenting in a second language, we found strength in our shared purpose. Our unity and genuine passion for the cause allowed us to overcome any linguistic hurdles that arose. Ever since the beginning of our project, we have prioritized equality, ensuring everyone on our team felt included and equal. We kept this mindset during our presentation and questioning, where every team member was given an opportunity to speak. We leaned on each other for support, seamlessly complementing one another’s strengths, and always taking a moment to breathe. 

The positive feedback we received after the presentation was both validating and heartening. The audience recognized the significance of our work and expressed their eagerness to join us in creating a collective impact. When we were asked when our products will be available to be sold, we collectively felt a sense of relief- a reminder of the goal we are working towards. Watching people be eager about our project, products, and research was the validation we needed after a taxing 2 weeks of fieldwork. Knowing that we had successfully conveyed our message and inspired others to take action filled us with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.

We also enjoyed watching other projects present their work over the last semester of work. In the end, we all got to stand together- as one fellowship cohort and discuss the challenges we faced and what we learned along the way. It was heartwarming to connect with others among other projects and share our experiences and closing words. We are incredibly grateful to AlmaU and Lehigh for this amazing opportunity to emerge ourselves in a global problem and discuss problems with complex solutions. While AlmaU students got a great practice in their English, Lehigh students got an opportunity to experience a completely different culture, and essentially become global citizens. 

Targeted public outreach is a crucial branch of our project. Besides AlmaU, we were able to network with Haileybury School. In addition to participating in our quasi-experimental study, they expressed their interest in cooperating on other parts of our project. Therefore, we had another meeting to speak to and recruit students from grades 10 to 13. Haileybury faculty members helped us match students’ interests with the different aspects of our project. There were quite a few students who were interested in aerospace, electrical, and mechanical engineering and those students signed up for our monitor and filter testing. Moreover, there were business and marketing students who signed up for the public outreach aspect of our project. 

Nabi, an eager student from Haileybury, built and patented a portable carbon dioxide air monitor. With 3 sensors, this monitor can detect 7 different types of air pollution, such as carbon monoxide, smoke, methane, butane, etc. The monitor can be charged by solar panel or through USB and the data is collected through wifi. Besides from the type of air pollution they measure, the difference between our monitor and Nabi’s monitor is the cost. The cost of our monitor is approximately $50, with the sensor itself being $36. The sensor for Nabi’s monitor is $1.50. Therefore, we expect that we can reduce the cost to under $5 if we collaborate on both designs, which is one of our summer plans. 

On the other hand, another eager student, Albina, assembled and launched a nanosatellite through her project HALSAT in a collaboration with Al-Farabi University. The goal of this project is to measure PM 2.5 and PM 10 in the Almaty region through sensors that are attached to it. We plan to compare the satellite-collected data to the data collected from the ground with our monitor in order to map the city.

To further network with local stakeholders, we organized an event at American Space Almaty. It was a one hour event with a presentation followed by a Q & A session. Both sessions were mainly carried out in Russian, so our AlmaU team, Moldir and Aidana, took the lead by presenting and answering questions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued to further our partnership with JKS entertainment by joining them for go carting! During our two-hour drive there, we recorded the levels of pollution with our monitor. For the majority of the ride the air pollution was moderate because we were next to other cars that expose CO2 emissions. In the distance, we saw a couple of chimneys that contribute to the air pollution. When we arrived at the racetrack there were not any readings from our monitor as the air was clean. It was only when we got in the cars with the Tik Tokers that the PM 2.5 score started to rise, and the air quality became unhealthy. Knowing this information, we asked JKS entertainment to help us with promoting the bad air pollution around us. They were nice enough to be a part of the video as recorded.

On May 28th, we visited Shymbulak which is a ski resort at the top of a mountain. It was packed with families and friends having fun outdoors. One of the interesting things we learned is that beyond a certain point on the mountain, any type of fossil fuel vehicle is not allowed. This regulation is in place to preserve the nature of the mountain. Therefore, only electric cars are able to transport people up and down the mountain. Fuel-engined vehicles are one of the biggest pollutants in the city, but asking each and every citizen to buy electric cars is not a practical option. For citizens that can afford electric cars, we want to determine what the deciding factor is between buying an electric car or a gas burning car. Because we are aiming at behavioral change, we want people to be able to make a more informed decision on whether to buy an eco-friendly car or a polluting car in order to protect their health. 

Upon returning to the hotel, we had a meeting with Khanjan and Professor Menicucci to go over long and short-term goals and the strategies to achieve them. One area we need to focus on is our BHAG (big hairy audacious goal). Some of the recommendations were that we need more details as to why we chose our target audience. We need to figure out a definitive variable (whether it is health, visits to the hospital, etc) for BHAG that we plan to increase or decrease by creating behavior change toward air pollution. The meeting then transitioned to our strategies and how they will help us achieve our BHAG. We defined the four aspects of our project which are our natural experiment, air filters, air monitors, and targeted public outreach. For the air monitor, there was a discussion on how we plan to switch the monitor’s PM 2.5 score to CO2 levels because it will dramatically reduce the cost to build it. First, we need to ensure that there is a correlation between the two that effectively shows the levels of air pollution. Then, we can construct our air monitors to record CO2. There were a few missing details that were needed for the air filter to make it a more reliable product. Some things we need to look further into are energy efficiency, cost for transporting the product, and how big the room size can be. We plan to collect some information from our partners from Hong Kong who gave us the filter initially.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One branch of our project is the air monitor. In addition to the affordability and efficiency of the product, we are collecting data to map the city based on the PM 2.5 level. We targeted public spaces that people frequently visit such as playgrounds, bazaars, bus stops, etc. We were expecting various fluctuations in PM 2.5 levels throughout the city. Such data can be used for our targeted public outreach to encourage people to change their attitudes and behaviors toward the issue. However, due to the weather and traffic situation of the day, there were fewer fluctuations. It was warmer than usual, and there was less traffic as it was the weekend. 

Overall, PM 2.5 levels spiked several times near intersections and bus stops, indicating that after the heating season, traffic is the largest contributing factor to air pollution. Additionally, we will compare this data with other data collected in another season to see if there is a shift in the main contributors to air pollution. Our Haileybury partners offered to work on the mapping aspect of the project. On Wednesday, we will present at Haileybury to recruit students to our team. Over the next few months, we will work with them to collect and compare more measurements to formulate information that can be essential to our project. This data can be used to incentivize behavioral change. 

We then had a meeting with Khanjan to discuss the big picture of our project. We realized that we still have a lot of unanswered questions and gaps that need to be addressed. To further clarify those questions, we had a team meeting with Professor Duvanova. In an effort to clarify our project, Kaliana created infographics summarizing our project. 

The success of our project is greatly reliant on public knowledge. We need to spread knowledge about our monitors, filters, and the effects that air pollution has on health. JKS entertainment was willing to have the members of their YOLO House collaborate with us. YOLO House is a group of Kazakh Tik Tokers with 27.4 million followers. We made some fun dancing videos and also more serious videos about our filters and monitors. They also seemed very interested in continuing our partnership!

 

Kok-Tobe Hill is a recreation area at the top of the mountain where Almaty citizens frequently visit to escape the pollution. During our visit, we met with local business owners to get more insights into their perspective on air pollution. The idea behind our filter is to have fresh air whenever and wherever you are. This would mean that people wouldn’t have to wait to visit Kok-Tobe to have fresh air. Throughout our visit, we promoted our venture and products to locals who were visiting and working in Kok-Tobe. We also tested CanAirIO, which is the air monitor app that stores and visualizes the collected data. With the app, we were able to collect meaningful data that shows dramatic differences in PM 2.5 in different locations. 

We had a meeting with Haileybury School, one of our partners, to discuss and define the direction of our collaboration. The four aspects of our project are air monitor (satellite mapping), air filter, natural study, and public outreach, and Haileybury School will participate in all four.

For the study, we presented our hypothesis and the methods. We also discussed how both sides can benefit from this study and what we are going to do with the results. Furthermore, we elaborated on the methods of study: what type of test, how to gather and analyze test scores, classroom setting, number of participants, etc. Nothing is finalized yet, but it was a productive discussion to clarify many things that are useful for our project.

Earlier in the semester, we formed a partnership with two students that were working on monitors of their own. Nabi and Khalmetov, seniors at Haileybury, built their own monitor that measures carbon dioxide and is much cheaper than our monitor. Therefore, we have decided to conduct tests on both monitors to compare their efficiency and find the crossover between PM 2.5 and carbon dioxide in relation to air pollution. 

After introducing our air filter, we expressed our interest to work together with Haileybury to test and quantify the specifics of the filter. They are fully interested in this aspect of the project too. 

For our public outreach branch of the project, we have been working with JSK entertainment. We also plan to work with students from Haileybury and AlmaU to promote the project to local communities.

We exchanged our contact information and scheduled our next meeting on May 31st at 1 PM. At that meeting, we will present to Haileybury high school students to recruit them to our team and continue our discussion with Mr. Stockermans and Mr. Morris about the specifics of the project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sustainability of our venture in local context will play an essential role in our success. One of the uncertainties regarding this is the availability of monitor and filter components. We visited Barakholka, the equivalent of a fleamarket, to find out if these components can be sourced locally. 

As we are emphasizing affordability of our product, we explored different price options and purchased the cheapest components available. We bought a filter for T4000 ($9), a fan for T4000 ($9), and a charger head T1000 ($2.25). However, this is much more expensive than the cost of the filter built in Shenzhen. Our plan for these local products is to make a simple air filter by using cardboard. We will mimic the filter design from Lingnan University and compare the efficacy of both filters. While the prices of components from local markets are more expensive than the components from Hong Kong, the price of importing from Hong Kong may make the filters more similar in price.

Because of the high level of air pollution at the market, our team did not feel well after returning to AlmaU. We were unable to focus because of headaches and nausea. This further demonstrated the importance of our project. We were able to get first hand experience of the immediate side effects of air pollution. Our passion for this project grows more and more with each day of fieldwork. The fact that citizens of Almaty just accept these illnesses as a reality is what we are trying to combat. We want people to be more educated on the effects of air pollution and to be able to avoid highly polluted areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do we want our project to be perceived? That is the question we are aiming to answer on day four of fieldwork. We will continue to edit our slides and will meet with social media influencers to determine how we should portray our venture.

While editing our slides, we realized that we need to create more of a brand. We will start by making a logo for Breathe Almaty. We also need to make a poster for our event at American Corners on May 31. This would be the first public place that our logo will be seen. 

We have also decided to take our project in more of a behavioral change direction rather than a policy change one. This is because poor health as a result of air quality can be improved by individuals taking action. While our monitors and filters will help in creating this change, our end goal is not to have the best products on the market. We want the citizens of Almaty to realize that they can take charge of their future by using any air purification products available. The results of our quasi experimental study show the harsh reality that air quality severely affects not only physical, but also mental health. Air pollution in Almaty is an issue that desperately needs attention, therefore, the citizens must take the future into their own hands and pressure the government to make a monumental change.

We are meeting with YOLO House, who are famous TikTok influencers in Kazakhstan. The purpose of meeting with them is to further understand the ways we can strengthen our branding for the products we are planning to sell. We also have a social media page we want to share to the Almaty community and meeting at YOLO house can potentially get us more people from Almaty to be invested in our project. During our meeting we got a brief overview of JKS entertainment and the partnerships that the organization has like the YOLO house and others. After their presentation we also presented our project highlighting the issue of air pollution and why they should invest in us. We scheduled a follow up meeting on Friday so JKS entertainment can further elaborate on ways we can build our branding of air pollution. We plan to expand our platforms to TikTok so we can reach a younger audience that is fun and interactive.

After coming back to AlmaU, our group presented our project to AlmaU faculty. Giving an overview of what we plan to do during fieldwork, and ways to implement our Quasi-experiment to schools in Almaty. We were able to receive some helpful feedback from faculty in the audience. A faculty member informed us that there is an upcoming conference that is about a similar project related to air pollution, which can help us gain more insight on ways we can improve our monitor and filter. Another suggestion was that we should start to gather more data for our air filter such as finding the parameters that the filter can cover and how long it takes to ventilate a room. There was also a question on if we plan to have multiple stations where we will build the filter and monitor. Our response was that we have not yet considered that as our main focus as we still need to research the best components. 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that we have settled in and declared our BHAG, it’s time to dive into the specifics of our project. Our main goals for the day are to schedule meetings with local schools, meet with Lingnan University, and prepare for tomorrow’s presentation.

Our AlmaU faculty advisor, Ainar, is assisting us in scheduling meetings with schools. We are planning on visiting one or two schools a day to seek feedback on our quasi experimental study. Because private schools have air conditioning, we will be working with public schools. Because public schools are funded by the government, they are not as luxurious as private schools and therefore have a lower quality learning environment. Through our project, we hope that public schools will one day have an air quality index (AQI) of less than 2. 

During our meeting with Lingnan University, we would like to learn more about the air filter and its capabilities. Once we get this information, we will figure out the best way to study its effectiveness and determine if it is the right fit for our project. The initial partnership plan with Lingnan University is that they will share the information about the filter and we will test it and share the results of the study.

The initial questions that we will ask are 

• How efficient is the filter?
• What size room is it for?
• What is its lifetime?
• What is the overall cost?
• How many are we able to import? And at what cost?
• Where is the best place in the room to put the filter?
• How often does the filter need to be cleaned?
• Elaborate more on the dyson filter being utilized in your design
• Is the design open-source?
• What would a reasonable selling price be for Almaty, emphasizing low income households?

Once these questions are answered, we will find the components in local Kazak markets and compare quality/prices.

For tomorrow’s presentation, we are altering our final presentation slides to better fit our AlmaU audience and to showcase the new plans that we have made. Our audience will be full of our Lehigh peers, AlmaU faculty, students, and the SDG club. We will be presenting with our AlmaU partners who will be able to translate and answer questions when necessary. At the end of our presentation, we will seek feedback from the audience that will help us steer our project in the best direction possible.

After meeting with Hong Kong, we are feeling a bit skeptical about the filter. It seems as if they just distributed the filters without knowing anything about its effectiveness. They were unable to answer most of the questions that we had for them. The two questions that they could answer were the lifetime and cost of the filter. This meeting highlighted the weaknesses in their filter information, which we plan to contribute to in our venture. Before our quasi experimental study, we will have to conduct a study on this filter. Our partners at Hong Kong will send all of the documents that they have on the filter and we will plan our filter study accordingly.

Professor Duvanova also arrived halfway through the day. She brought components to make five more air monitors. Ainar was able to take us to the AlmaU IT department to submit a request to use the soldering equipment later in the week. She also had planned a meeting with Haileybury in which she asked permission to use the school in our study. She attended this meeting with a faculty member from AlmaU, Aurora, and Allen Wilson from Breathe Almaty.