9:00 AM
to 10:30 AM
Developing Entrepreneurship Curricula for Sustainable Development
9 Attendees
Location
Montgomery
Interest in technology entrepreneurship aimed at solving the most intractable of global problems in the developing world is at an all-time high. A vast number of education programs, especially in engineering- and design-related degree programs, focus on developing appropriate technology solutions to Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) challenges in sectors such as food, water, energy, health, education and global connectivity. For many years, funding organizations have underwritten such efforts, only to see successful technologies that ultimately failed in the adoption cycle. The global community has largely come to the conclusion that technologies often fail because of they were never turned into sustainable enterprises. The authors have significant experience creating ventures in a developing world context (Africa, Mexico, American Indian, etc.) and in developing for-credit and non-credit technology entrepreneurship curricula for sustainable development. This session will discuss their experiences and offer suggestions for implementing successful ventures and curricula.
Tags Thurs 1A2
9:00 AM
to 10:30 AM
Guiding Principles for Sustainable Humanitarian Engineering Projects
6 Attendees
Location
Montgomery
The engineering profession must embrace a new mission statement: to contribute to the building of a more sustainable, stable, and equitable world. Recently, engineering students and professionals in the US have shown more interest in directly addressing the needs of developing communities worldwide. That interest has taken the form of short- and medium-term international trips through Engineers Without Borders-USA and similar organizations. There are also several instances where this kind of outreach work has been integrated into engineering education. This paper addresses the challenges and opportunities associated with balancing two goals in engineering for humanitarian development projects: (i) effective sustainable community development, and (ii) meaningful education of engineers. Guiding principles necessary to meet those two goals are proposed.
Tags Thurs 1A1
9:00 AM
to 10:30 AM
PIET: Building a heuristic, interdisciplinary program focused on commercializing clean energy technologies in the developing world
8 Attendees
Location
Montgomery
In 2008, the University of California, in partnership with NCIIA, created the Program for International Energy Technologies (PIET) in order to accelerate the dissemination of low cost, clean energy, energy efficient solutions into the market in developing countries. The main objectives of this initiative are to: build an on-going program that will educate and engage UC Davis students in energy-related issues in developing countries; bridge the current gap between the need and existing technologies by creating market-based, entrepreneurial dissemination strategies; and allow student teams to create an impact on partner communities. The program's founder, Kurt Kornbluth, will talk about the PIET approach as well as curricula, the challenges and successes in development of the program, and highlights the current projects.
Tags Thurs 1A3
2:30 PM
to 4:00 PM
Developing Social Entrepreneurship at WPI
2 Attendees
Location
Mason II
Social entrepreneurship is the use of entrepreneurial principles to solve a social problem or create sustainable social value. This study assessed the feasibility of initiating a social entrepreneurship program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). The feasibility was measured by gathering data from two different environments: WPI's campus, and universities in the US offering social entrepreneurship programs. WPI student survey results, focus group results, and faculty interviews demonstrated a general lack of understanding of social entrepreneurship on campus. A deeper analysis, however, demonstrated that students and faculty members are interested in social entrepreneurship, especially in the form of sustainability and related fields. The recommendations for implementation of a program at WPI include raising awareness of the subject on campus and gradually introducing extracurricular activities to eventually lead into more robust activities such as projects, courses, and ventures.
Tags Fri 3C3
2:30 PM
to 4:00 PM
Eplum Model of Student Engagement: Preliminary assessment findings
3 Attendees
Location
Mason II
We have developed the Eplum model to engage students and faculty across campus in humanitarian engineering and social entrepreneurial ventures. The objective is the convergence of disciplines, concepts, cultures, and countries toward a freer, friendlier, fairer and more sustainable planet. The model engages students and faculty in well-defined global civic engagement projects in various formal and informal ways, from the sub-credit to multi-credit level. During the spring 2009 semester, 151 students participated in three ventures in Kenya: Mashavu (telemedicine), WishVast (social networking) and Eco-Village. We will present the model and share preliminary assessment results of the impact of these projects on students' knowledge acquisition, self-perceptions, and future career plans. We will also present the conceptual framework of the Eplum model assessment effort, which seeks to understand how different forms and levels of engagement in these ventures leads to the internationalization, public scholarship and multidisciplinary teamwork outcomes at various levels.
Tags Fri 3C2
2:30 PM
to 4:00 PM
Integrating Sustainable Community Development in Engineering Education
5 Attendees
Location
Mason II
In 2004, we received a grant from NCIIA to develop a new graduate course in development engineering. It went through four iterations based on feedback received from students and faculty. The final iteration was offered in academic year 2008-09 as a six-credit hour course titled Sustainable Community Development I (SCD I, fall) and II (SCD II, spring). SCD I emphasizes a public health perspective and participatory models, with an overview of development and global health concepts and issues. SCD II covers the principles, practices and strategies of appropriate technology as part of an integrated and systems approach to community-based development. This latest version of the course will be offered for the foreseeable future. This session describes challenges faced in developing the different course iterations and how to include social entrepreneurship and public heath in engineering education.
Tags Fri 3C1
