what comes to mind when you think of
engineering
maybe thought of building a bridge
rocket ships or high-tech gadgets now
consider what comes to mind when you
think of humanitarian work maybe thought
of cleaning up after a disaster
volunteering at an orphanage for
building schools in third-world
countries my goal today is to merge your
vision of engineering with your vision
of International Development now putting
these two seemingly unrelated concepts
together is the birth of a new
discipline which I call in development
the integration of engineering into
International Development as a
mechanical engineer I could clearly see
that there’s there’s a scarcity of
people concerned about change
development Paul Pollock in his book out
of poverty points out that the world’s
designers spend all their time working
on the solutions to the problems of the
richest 10% of the world’s customers a
revolution in design is needed to
reverse this silly ratio and reach the
other 90%
we only innovate for the richest 10%
well think about what engineering and
technology breakthroughs are making the
headlines the newest smartphone
self-driving cars and houses that can
talk to you now don’t get me wrong these
these technologies are great they
accelerate our connectivity our mobility
our access to information but what about
the other 90% of the world’s customers
many of them lack clean water and
adequate food supply and basic
sanitation let me talk about that last
one basic sanitation in India more than
a third of the population lacks access
to a toilet meaning that millions of
people do their business out in the open
leaving them prone to a host of serious
issues
including serious disease and even
sexual abuse in 2011 I went to India as
a student engineer with a group of
social entrepreneurs we introduced
innovative toilets which break down
waste using earthworms appropriately
called SOI ‘let’s now these soil ‘it’s
our match made in heaven for slums in
India because many of these communities
lack any type of sewer system so let’s
are so cool they look just like normal
toilets have virtually no smell they’re
cheap to build and they even produce get
this garden friendly fertilizer
after weeks of networking with local aid
organizations we finally found it an
organization that would take on the so
that project is their own the
organization is called SAP ‘add and it’s
run by seven women who spend all their
efforts into developing slums in the
outskirts of Hyderabad India we built
seven soil it’s in these slums and they
were successful because we trained local
builders how to construct these eyelets
and SAP it
continue to implement the concept long
after we left the country so I returned
to India five years later I was
pleasantly surprised to learn that these
these seven soils had now become over
150 soil it’s
we like toilets yeah so it’s were
sustainable because we the technical
innovators were connected with a local
organization this is in development the
sort of project has given me the
opportunity to network with some
excellent in development engineers the
soil was invented by an engineer in
Ghana named quake you a know now quick
you saw that sanitation in his local
community had some serious issues many
of these people had pit latrines which
hadn’t had a unbearable stench and
caused serious disease and water
contamination but but quake you saw
these problems as an opportunity for an
engineering solution and even a business
solution he he invented the toilet sand
started a lucrative business from it he
then passed the the concept onto Ana
organization called help International
and that’s where I took the baton my job
as an in development student engineer
was to take quake use design of the
Soylent and redesign it for India quake
use soil design had a rectangular box
which allowed the liquid waste to drain
in the ground while the solid waste was
retained at the top to be devoured by
the worms our first Indian soil it
looked a lot like this one but I
realized that we could drastically cut
costs if we use more local materials
like these concrete rings already
manufactured in the slum sure enough my
indianized soil it was a ninja velopment
success and well the best part of this
model is that no one is using it anymore
and let me explain that
so back in 2011 at the end of our stay
in India we held the first ever Indian
soil at conference to show-off soil it’s
to haze posts of Indian aid
organizations at this conference I met
Dharma Rao the former chief engineer of
the state of Andhra Pradesh
when Dharma Rao saw these toilets he
said these are great but I want to make
them cheaper and easier to build and he
did instead of using brick bathroom
walls
he used thin concrete panels and he
didn’t use my concrete ring soil it
design but he was able to accomplish the
same wastewater filtering with the
proven gravel pit design hundreds of
these SOI ‘let’s have now been built and
most recently the government of India
has adopted the concept
[Applause]
I believe we need more quick you a nose
and Dar Morales in the world we need
more quick you annals who see a problem
in an underdeveloped community is an
opportunity for an engineering
innovation but we also need dar Morales
we need people that see an invention and
redesign it to make it more accessible
and affordable for those in poverty
these two engineers utilizes in
development as they solve local problems
with engineering solutions now with more
connectivity and mobility than ever we
don’t necessarily have to live in Ghana
or India to be in development designers
or engineers at the same time that
doesn’t mean you could just look up a
problem on the internet go and 3d print
a solution and end global poverty that
is not in development likewise many tech
companies donate their computers or
tractors to third-world countries just
to find those machines unused misuse
destroyed in filling up local landfills
ultimately making things worse than they
were before so why are these probably
well-intentioned endeavors not in
development well not only do they ignore
the development side of in development
but they also ignore the engineering
side of in development they ignore good
engineering practice just just like a
bad Oh ring can destroy a space shuttle
a poorly fitted invention in a
third-world country can do more harm
than good
remember that the soil ‘it was
successful as we were well connected to
a local organization to understood the
needs of the community much better than
we did these people didn’t need
computers or tractors they needed
toilets in
development is successful as technical
innovators are connected with two local
social entrepreneurs now you don’t have
to be obsessed with toilets to be
involved with in development if you
haven’t noticed I’m a little obsessed
with these soy ‘lets I may or may not
bring up soil it’s on every first date
I’m still single and now all of you get
to join me right here on our first date
talking about some of its
congratulations but like I said you
don’t have to be obsessed with toilets
to be involved with in development there
are other problems that need in
development here are some problems some
world problems in which the United
Nations is currently looking for
solutions one in nine people in the
world are undernourished one in five
live on less than a dollar twenty five a
day two and five experience water
scarcity now these are big problems
which is great because without problems
engineers wouldn’t have a job
I’m excited to meet the quake you a nose
and Dharma Rous who tackle world hunger
extreme poverty and water scarcity the
solutions to these problems
may not have been invented yet but I’m
excited because the innovators who solve
these problems may be listening today
development organizations will continue
to put forth their best efforts to help
those in poverty engineers will continue
to be the problem solvers and designers
in society but unless more
step forward and integrate these two
fields will be missing out on a
powerhouse resource something that could
help not just millions but billions as
the next generation of innovators
looking to the future rather than
focusing on the cool toys for the
richest 10% if they want to have the
greatest world impact they need to adopt
principles of in development and start
catering to the other 90% thank you
you
engineering
maybe thought of building a bridge
rocket ships or high-tech gadgets now
consider what comes to mind when you
think of humanitarian work maybe thought
of cleaning up after a disaster
volunteering at an orphanage for
building schools in third-world
countries my goal today is to merge your
vision of engineering with your vision
of International Development now putting
these two seemingly unrelated concepts
together is the birth of a new
discipline which I call in development
the integration of engineering into
International Development as a
mechanical engineer I could clearly see
that there’s there’s a scarcity of
people concerned about change
development Paul Pollock in his book out
of poverty points out that the world’s
designers spend all their time working
on the solutions to the problems of the
richest 10% of the world’s customers a
revolution in design is needed to
reverse this silly ratio and reach the
other 90%
we only innovate for the richest 10%
well think about what engineering and
technology breakthroughs are making the
headlines the newest smartphone
self-driving cars and houses that can
talk to you now don’t get me wrong these
these technologies are great they
accelerate our connectivity our mobility
our access to information but what about
the other 90% of the world’s customers
many of them lack clean water and
adequate food supply and basic
sanitation let me talk about that last
one basic sanitation in India more than
a third of the population lacks access
to a toilet meaning that millions of
people do their business out in the open
leaving them prone to a host of serious
issues
including serious disease and even
sexual abuse in 2011 I went to India as
a student engineer with a group of
social entrepreneurs we introduced
innovative toilets which break down
waste using earthworms appropriately
called SOI ‘let’s now these soil ‘it’s
our match made in heaven for slums in
India because many of these communities
lack any type of sewer system so let’s
are so cool they look just like normal
toilets have virtually no smell they’re
cheap to build and they even produce get
this garden friendly fertilizer
after weeks of networking with local aid
organizations we finally found it an
organization that would take on the so
that project is their own the
organization is called SAP ‘add and it’s
run by seven women who spend all their
efforts into developing slums in the
outskirts of Hyderabad India we built
seven soil it’s in these slums and they
were successful because we trained local
builders how to construct these eyelets
and SAP it
continue to implement the concept long
after we left the country so I returned
to India five years later I was
pleasantly surprised to learn that these
these seven soils had now become over
150 soil it’s
we like toilets yeah so it’s were
sustainable because we the technical
innovators were connected with a local
organization this is in development the
sort of project has given me the
opportunity to network with some
excellent in development engineers the
soil was invented by an engineer in
Ghana named quake you a know now quick
you saw that sanitation in his local
community had some serious issues many
of these people had pit latrines which
hadn’t had a unbearable stench and
caused serious disease and water
contamination but but quake you saw
these problems as an opportunity for an
engineering solution and even a business
solution he he invented the toilet sand
started a lucrative business from it he
then passed the the concept onto Ana
organization called help International
and that’s where I took the baton my job
as an in development student engineer
was to take quake use design of the
Soylent and redesign it for India quake
use soil design had a rectangular box
which allowed the liquid waste to drain
in the ground while the solid waste was
retained at the top to be devoured by
the worms our first Indian soil it
looked a lot like this one but I
realized that we could drastically cut
costs if we use more local materials
like these concrete rings already
manufactured in the slum sure enough my
indianized soil it was a ninja velopment
success and well the best part of this
model is that no one is using it anymore
and let me explain that
so back in 2011 at the end of our stay
in India we held the first ever Indian
soil at conference to show-off soil it’s
to haze posts of Indian aid
organizations at this conference I met
Dharma Rao the former chief engineer of
the state of Andhra Pradesh
when Dharma Rao saw these toilets he
said these are great but I want to make
them cheaper and easier to build and he
did instead of using brick bathroom
walls
he used thin concrete panels and he
didn’t use my concrete ring soil it
design but he was able to accomplish the
same wastewater filtering with the
proven gravel pit design hundreds of
these SOI ‘let’s have now been built and
most recently the government of India
has adopted the concept
[Applause]
I believe we need more quick you a nose
and Dar Morales in the world we need
more quick you annals who see a problem
in an underdeveloped community is an
opportunity for an engineering
innovation but we also need dar Morales
we need people that see an invention and
redesign it to make it more accessible
and affordable for those in poverty
these two engineers utilizes in
development as they solve local problems
with engineering solutions now with more
connectivity and mobility than ever we
don’t necessarily have to live in Ghana
or India to be in development designers
or engineers at the same time that
doesn’t mean you could just look up a
problem on the internet go and 3d print
a solution and end global poverty that
is not in development likewise many tech
companies donate their computers or
tractors to third-world countries just
to find those machines unused misuse
destroyed in filling up local landfills
ultimately making things worse than they
were before so why are these probably
well-intentioned endeavors not in
development well not only do they ignore
the development side of in development
but they also ignore the engineering
side of in development they ignore good
engineering practice just just like a
bad Oh ring can destroy a space shuttle
a poorly fitted invention in a
third-world country can do more harm
than good
remember that the soil ‘it was
successful as we were well connected to
a local organization to understood the
needs of the community much better than
we did these people didn’t need
computers or tractors they needed
toilets in
development is successful as technical
innovators are connected with two local
social entrepreneurs now you don’t have
to be obsessed with toilets to be
involved with in development if you
haven’t noticed I’m a little obsessed
with these soy ‘lets I may or may not
bring up soil it’s on every first date
I’m still single and now all of you get
to join me right here on our first date
talking about some of its
congratulations but like I said you
don’t have to be obsessed with toilets
to be involved with in development there
are other problems that need in
development here are some problems some
world problems in which the United
Nations is currently looking for
solutions one in nine people in the
world are undernourished one in five
live on less than a dollar twenty five a
day two and five experience water
scarcity now these are big problems
which is great because without problems
engineers wouldn’t have a job
I’m excited to meet the quake you a nose
and Dharma Rous who tackle world hunger
extreme poverty and water scarcity the
solutions to these problems
may not have been invented yet but I’m
excited because the innovators who solve
these problems may be listening today
development organizations will continue
to put forth their best efforts to help
those in poverty engineers will continue
to be the problem solvers and designers
in society but unless more
step forward and integrate these two
fields will be missing out on a
powerhouse resource something that could
help not just millions but billions as
the next generation of innovators
looking to the future rather than
focusing on the cool toys for the
richest 10% if they want to have the
greatest world impact they need to adopt
principles of in development and start
catering to the other 90% thank you
you
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