The Central American Solar Energy Project (CASEP) was founded as a formal organization by William Lankford, professor of Physics at George Mason University, Fairfax VA in 1991. Professor Lankford first considered the idea of solar ovens when he was studying Spanish in Costa Rica where he was given a design by Costa Rican professor, Shyam Nandwani in 1986. A test model was immediately built, and the seed was planted.