Outreach

Power State of the Art in Dennehotso

In March 2021, together with Professor Mostafa Sahraei-Ardakani, Dr. Liu drove to the Dennehotso Chapter of the Navajo Nation to investigate their current status of power infrastructure. We organized a workshop with Renae Hoshnic (Legislative District Assistant) and Matthew Austin (then Chapter Manager of Dennehotso) and went on a field trip. The power grid of the entire Navajo Nation is governed by Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA). However, most of the houses (or mobility homes) are not connected. Houses that are not connected to the main grid are connected via extension cords to the nearby houses that are grid-connected. Very few appliances are available in each house.

  • Extension cord chewed by dogs
  • Extension cords to connect off-grid houses
  • Few houses are grid-connected
  • Most houses are connected via extension cords
  • Mobility homes are normally not electrified
  • End of a distribution line – connecting one, missing one
  • Power line running over an unelectrified house
  • Dinosaur trace
  • Dinosaur trace

Sweat Equity Homes Project

In July 2021, together with Prof. Mostafa Saharaei-Ardakani (ECE), Prof. Jianli Chen (Civil), Prof. Shundana Yusaf (Architecture), and the Nááts’íilid Initiative, we conducted the Sweat Equity Homes Project Workshop with the Navajo Nation leadership, Navajo elders, Navajo industries, and Navajo community representatives at the University of Utah Bluff Campus. During the workshop, we tried to figure out the current technical, social, and cultural barriers that the Navajo Nation is facing in its economic development.

  • Nathaniel Brown (Council Delegate of the Navajo Nation) is drawing his community.
  • Dalton Singer (President of the Kayenta Chapter) is introducing his community.
  • Discussions in the workshop.
  • (Left to Right) Shundana Yusaf, Mostafa Sahraei-Ardakani, Jianli Chen, and Mingxi Liu
  • Mingxi Liu is introducing Victoria, BC to others
  • Successful workshop
  • (Left to Right) Mingxi Liu, Nathaniel Brown, Jianli Chen, Dalton Singer, and Mostafa Sahraei-Ardakani
  • Wonderful lunch