Course

ENV-470: Development engineering

Summary

This course teaches the fundamentals of designing technologies that are essential to support people living in contexts of extreme vulnerability such as extreme poverty, humanitarian crises and situations of conflicts and violence. The course involves both theory and practical work on real cases.

Lectures

Instructors (2)

Klaus Benedikt Schönenberger

Vision: Scientific research and technology development can be mobilized to help the poorest and most vulnerable in this world. Klaus Schönenberger obtained an MSc in Microengineering (1993), followed by a PhD (1996) from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). After a post-doc at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, he spent over 10 years in the medical devices industry in leading positions such as Vice-President of Worldwide R&D in a

100m company and Global Vice-Resident of Research and Technology in a

1bn company. In 2009, as he was working for a medical devices company, he received a shock: he realized that there is a huge imbalance in access to medical technology in industrialized versus low and middle-income countries. After a closer look, he discovered that he imbalance’s main cause is a mismatch between existing technologies and business models, with those needed in low and middle-income countries. He decided to leave industry and, in 2009, he co-founded the EssentialMed Foundation, an innovative non-profit venture. In 2011, realizing that both technology and business models needed a profound rethinking, he joined EPFL where he launched EssentialTech, an initiative inspired by the philosophy of EssentialMed but expanded to a much wider portfolio of "essential" technologies. The university-wide program aims to develop innovative technologies and business models, for the benefit of sustainable development in low and middle-income countries. In this role, he has already launched and overseen a dozen large projects. Major Humanitarian actors such as the ICRC, MSF and Terre des Hommes took notice of the innovative approach proposed, and decided to collaborate in 2015-2016. This has resulted notably in the joint creation between EPFL and ICRC, of the Humanitarian Tech Hub at EPFL. In May 2017, Klaus directed and launched a MOOC(Massive Open Online Course) entitled “Technology Innovation for Sustainable Development” which aims to spread the unique methodology and approach worldwide. As of today, more than 6000 people have enrolled. In 2018 a first spin-off company was created. Award winning Pristem SA will deploy an innovative new digital xray imaging system, specifically designed for low-income contexts. In December 2018, the creation of the EssentialTech centre was announced by EPFL's presidency, and Klaus is now the Centre's director. Another spin-off of the EssentialTech Centre is the company HMCare, launched in 2020, which is deploying a transparent surgical mask.

Solomzi Makohliso

Teaching & PhD Courses Development engineering ENV-470 This course teaches the fundamentals of technologies for development (Development Engineering) to design, pilot, and deploy appropriate, affordable and robust technologies to address sustainable development challenges and especially those related to extreme poverty in Low-income settings. Science, Technology & Vulnerability HUM-287 This course explores how science and technology can address extreme vulnerability caused by

Official source

Moodle Page

http://go.epfl.ch/ENV-470

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Summary

Lectures

Instructors (2)

Klaus Benedikt Schönenberger

100m company and Global Vice-Resident of Research and Technology in a

Solomzi Makohliso

Official source

Moodle Page

http://go.epfl.ch/ENV-470

Lectures in this course (26)

Introduction to Development Engineering

Introduces Development Engineering as a new field focusing on sustainable solutions, innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Introduction to Sustainable Development Goals

Introduces the Sustainable Development Goals, emphasizing global partnerships and challenges in implementation.

What is Poverty?

Explores definitions and measurements of poverty, global inequalities, and challenges in providing essential services.

Understanding Global Poverty: Trends, Causes, and Measurement

Explores global poverty trends, causes, measurement methods, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Design Thinking and Needs Assessment

Explores design thinking, needs assessment, context analysis, and data collection techniques for credible research.

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