The Landmines Team has their first meeting with their mentor, Ken Rutherford.
Today, the Landmines Team finally got the opportunity to meet with their mentor, Ken Rutherford. This meeting provided them with the opportunity to learn more about Ken, the project, and the field of landmine removal in general.
Ken is a really remarkable and interesting individual, and the team is lucky to have him as a resource for the project. He began his career in international advocacy in 1987 with the Peace Corps, where he assisted refugee camps on the border of Mauritania and Senegal. In 1993, he began working with the International Rescue Committee in Kenya and Somalia. Tragically, during his time there Ken was injured in a landmine detonation that took both his legs.
But Ken didn’t let his injury slow him down. Instead, it inspired him to dedicate his life to a new cause, landmine detection and removal. In 1995 he co-founded the Landmine Survivors Network and played a leading role in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. In 2010 he became the director of the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery, which includes the Mine Action Information Center at James Madison University where he currently works.
Chris Natt
The meeting with Ken was very informative for the landmine team. He helped contextualize the problem of landmine removal and explained what areas around the world were most affected by this issue. He also helped the team to better understand what landmines consist of and how they work. He explained that most landmines are now made of plastic instead of metal, so they are harder to detect. Overall, he seemed very positive of the way the project was progressing and approved of the team’s ideas for their detection drone.
One new challenge Ken introduced to the group was the idea of building a separate drone to detonate landmines after they’ve been detected. This is something the group had discussed, but had not yet looked into in depth. Ken explained that often times, accidental detonations occur during landmine removal operations. This leads to even more injury and death. If the team was able to build a drone that could also safely detonate landmines, this could completely eliminate this problem.
The team left the meeting with a better understanding of landmines and a new challenge to overcome. They would now have to build a drone that could detect landmines in various environments, and also a drone that could safely detonate them. But the team knew they could complete these tasks through hard work and intellect. It would be difficult, but in the end they would have the opportunity to save more lives.
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