Herald-Whig Staff Writer

There is little incentive for companies to invest in the research and development that will benefit developing countries.

So Quincyan Alexander Drummond decided to help those who can ill afford to help themselves. He had little to lose -- Drummond is a high school senior.

Last year, he and his friend, Freddy Damen, decided to come up with a project that would qualify for a Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant. Their plan for an inexpensive and efficient water filter was chosen for one of the $10,000 prizes.

The two are students at the Illinois Math and Science Academy. Their team is the only one in Illinois, and one of 16 nationwide, to receive the grant.

"It was always our goal that we would use it to help developing countries," Drummond said. "We thought as this money was to go and support inventions, it'd be best to build an invention the majority of the world would derive benefit from."

Residents in the developing countries can't take pure drinking water for granted. Arsenic is found in the drinking water in South America and India as a result of mining. In Africa, wells are often not deep enough to access the aquifer and the water that is available filters through mud and dirt. Bacteria and pathogens are common.

The typical sand and pottery filters are inefficient. Non-government agencies lack the budgets to work polymers and ceramics.

"It's a problem to access clean drinking water. That's the situation we are trying to rectify," Drummond said.

The IMSA team is developing a two-stage filter with an intake pipe and catchment container that stands about two meters tall. The first filter removes the largest dirt, while the second eliminates the various bacteria and pathogens that cause illness.

"We're cautiously optimistic" about its success, Drummond said. "We know that the filters we're using will be capable, it's just a matter of getting water to flow through them quickly."

The filter will cost about $20 to build, an amount that may decrease as large numbers are produced.

Drummond's role has shifted from one of production to management as the team has grown to include about 20 people, including a physics professor. It's a role Drummond feels a little more comfortable with as he plans to study economics in college.

"The nice thing about economics is all it is the study of what people do in rational decisions. So what that allows you to do is pull in interdisciplinary ideas. I'm able to ... pull together a product so that I can use not only the economic abilities that I have but the science and math ability as well."

The team's goal is to complete their project by April. If they need to, they can apply for another grant for next year.

Drummond's hope is that having received one grant, he's started a tradition of entrepreneurial engineering within the school.

"We felt that IMSA's resources often are not put to their full potential by existing students," he said.

Drummond is the son of Judge Mark Drummond and Shay Drummond of Quincy. He is waiting for word on college acceptance, having applied to Oxford University, the University of Pennsylvania and U of I among others. An Eagle Scout, Drummond earned a 35 out of 36 points on his ACT.

-- hwagner@whig.com/221-3374