Engineering Challenges of Working with Stool

Sonia Grego speaks with us about a topic no one likes to talk about, but could be used to monitor personal dietary health and widespread disease outbreaks. Toilets! Sonia leads Duke University's Smart Toilet Lab and the spin out Coprata which makes the Microbiome Activity Tracker.

As discussed in the show, when developing a project far from where it will be deployed, there are many common issues. The Lessons Learned chapter of Sonia's recent book gives an excellent introduction to the unexpected environment far from the comfort of desks. The book is (free online!) Engineering Field Testing of Non-Sewered Sanitation Systems: Compendium of Lessons Learned,

See Sonia Grego at Duke Electrical & Computer Engineering, the Smart Toilet Lab as well as Sonia's company Coprata.

Some terms that came up in the show:

• Coprolite: fossilized excrement (Wikipedia entry has great(?) pics!)

• Scatological: material, humor, or language that relates directly to bodily waste

• Helminths: parasitic worms including roundworms, tapeworms, and fluke (oh look. more great images on Wiki entry)

Poop jokes

Transcript