Across the Atlantic Ocean, at a University in Milan, American graduate student Art Sullivan puts the finishing touches on his final design project. The product? A next generation Plancha stove, built off of previous designs developed by Burn Design Lab, for use in rural Guatemala.

Art graduated from Cornell University in 2014 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He joined the Burn Design Lab team in 2016, and served as the lead design engineer for BDL on the Kuniokoa stove – currently the highest efficiency natural draft cookstove in production. After a year at BDL, Art worked with Burn Manufacturing in Kenya and he’s since gone on to complete his master’s degree at the Milan School of Design in Milan, Italy.

“I come from a mechanical engineering background but I have always had a love for product design. I went back to design school so I could better integrate engineering solutions with product design,” Art said on his decision to pursue a master’s degree. His version of the Plancha stove, a wood-fired griddle used in Central America, aims to reduce the price and weight of the stove, as well as increase its durability.

Art’s project is incredibly important for those in Guatemala, and it epitomizes one of Burn Design Lab’s essential philosophies: global partnerships are essential to solving global problems. Our design team, and families in Guatemala who receive clean cookstoves, benefit from collaborations with diverse partners and institutions. “Burn Design Lab is the best that I know of when it comes to cookstove design,” Art added, “I couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with them again.”