Gavin Moses helps connect people of Pallccapampa to the internet
In May 2023, Gavin Moses joined 22 other NAIT students and three instructors in making a groundbreaking contribution to a remote region of southern Peru.
Pallccapampa is a farming community of 120 people located in the Andes mountains at an elevation of 4,330 metres – higher than Alberta’s tallest mountain. It is far from any national infrastructure, including all basic utilities.
For the first time, thanks to the expertise of Moses, a 2023 graduate of Wireless Systems Engineering Technology, and program chair Dr. Kevin Jacobson, the community’s two schools are now connected to the internet.
The project marked another success in the ongoing partnership between the polytechnic and Light up the World, a charity dedicated to bringing solar photovoltaic power to remote communities around the world.
This project served as the pilot for adding wireless internet to installations in other locations in the future. Here's a look at how it was done, what it will mean to the people of Pallccapampa, and to Moses himself.
How the system works
“We’ve been working on this since November [2022], so to see it through to the actual install is really exciting.”
– Gavin Moses (Wireless Systems Engineering Technology '23)
Project partners
Alternative Energy Technology – NAIT program responsible for a 15-week course in international project management, and whose instructors led the on-site installation of the 3,645-watt solar electric system that powers the satellite internet system at Pallccapampa
Light Up the World – NAIT partner and charity that brings solar photovoltaic energy to developing regions throughout the world
Employment and Social Development Canada – In 2021, NAIT received a $462,608 grant from the Government of Canada's Outbound Student Mobility pilot program, Global Skills Opportunity, to fund this student learning project, which has sent more than 30 students abroad to date as of the end of the 2022-23 academic year
Building on past successes
The Pallccapampa WiFi project marked a first for NAIT and Light up the World, but leading up to it were two other capstone projects by Wireless Systems Engineering Technology students that explored ways to bring the technology to remote regions. Both were the subject of previous techlifetoday stories: