Impact Projects Information Session

Join us in a virtual information session to learn how you and your organization can benefit from E4C’s impact projects. Hear from Impact Project partners about how the program expedited their sustainability goals, and gain insight into the application process for the 2023 project cycle.

Achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals requires the collective capacity of the global workforce – especially the engineers. Annually, E4C’s Impact Projects match highly skilled and diverse technical practitioners with organizations worldwide to advance their sustainability objectives and improve the quality of life of vulnerable communities. Co-designed with organizations ranging from academic institutions, non-profits, social enterprises, private sector, and multilateral agencies, Impact Projects deliver transformative support through research, human-centered design and advancement of organizational workflows.

Take part in this session to learn more!

Date: Wednesday October 26th | Time: 11am to 12:00pm ET

Speakers

Dr. Esther Obonyo is an Associate Professor of Engineering Design and Architectural Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. Prior to that she was an Associate Professor at the University of Florida’s (UF) Rinker School of Construction Management and also a faculty entrepreneurship Fellow at UF’s Warrington College of Business. She has worked as a Construction Engineer, Project Manager and Innovations Analyst in several Engineering and Construction Companies in Kenya, the UK and the US. She holds a BA in Building Economics from University of Nairobi, MA in Architecture from University of Nottingham and a Doctor of Engineering from Loughborough University. Esther’s research interest cuts across the following themes: climate change and extreme weather events, environmental sustainability, intelligent information and knowledge-based systems for productivity improvement and entrepreneurship. Dr Obonyo has had several NSF awards including an International Research Experiences for Students directed at Developing Global Scientist and Engineers in Kenya and Tanzania. In 2014, she conducted a Research Tutorial Abroad through a Center for International Business Education and Research Award from UF’s Center for African Studies. She is the Vice President for ASCE Global Center for Excellence in Computing and a joint coordinator for CIB TG83 eBusiness in Construction and is also one of the founding members for CIB W120: Disaster and the Built Environment.

Ashdeep Seth is a social innovation strategist, designer, engineer and educator, working at the intersection of technology, and sustainable global development. Currently, she consults for Indian nonprofit and MIT Solve Elevate Prizewinner, Kheyti, designing affordable, DIY greenhouses for smallholder farmers.  Ash is passionate about harnessing design and education to empower marginalized individuals to maximize their economic and entrepreneurial potential. Over the past few years, she has driven growth on several international development and social change projects in multiple industries, from agriculture to renewable energy to medical devices, in various countries – including India, Nepal, Mexico, Ghana and the Philippines. Her career is focused on design consulting and strategic planning for development, iteration, implementation, and scaling of hardware and software products and services addressing wicked problems in global, resource-constrained areas. Aside from her mechanical engineering & design know-how and her technical chops, her experience includes leading multidisciplinary, global teams and organizations through the product development process, architecting environments for innovative collaboration between diverse stakeholders, and workshop design & facilitation on topics such as critical design thinking, human-centered design, social business modeling, impact measurement & evaluation, and user research & synthesis. In addition, she develops and delivers pedagogies for sustainability education from secondary education to higher education levels, empowering learners by transmitting an understanding of sustainable development and the UN’s SDGs, and providing skills for transformative action. She facilitates Newlab’s HE3AT Program, a project-based STEAM and entrepreneurship program for Brooklyn highschoolers focused on climate change. At Terreform ONE, Ash is a social innovation strategist developing strategies for implementing social innovation hubs and ecosystems within higher education academic institutions. She is also the Vice Chair for Industrial Designers Society of America, New York Chapter. Ash holds a degree in Engineering: Product Design from Stanford University. She is a MovingWorlds Global Social Impact Fellow and an E4C Senior Fellow.

Alex Stchekine is Research & Innovation Manager at ISAIC – Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center. In this role, he works to bring Industry 4.0 technology and automation together along with a skilled sewing workforce. He joined ISAIC in 2020 as Technical Facilities Manager. Alex is also an artist creating sculptural objects and functional designs in metal and concrete. Prior to joining ISAIC, Alex worked in Bicycle Development/Assembly Operations at Shinola. Alex holds a degree in Fine Art specializing in Metalsmithing from Wayne State University.

Moderators

Iana Aranda is the Director of the Engineering for Global Development at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). At ASME, Iana sets the business strategy of a portfolio of programs and platforms that advance knowledge, workforce and social innovation to improve the quality of life of vulnerable populations and the environment. Iana also serves as the President of Engineering for Change – a knowledge organization and global community of over 1 million individuals dedicated to design and delivery of essential technologies advancing sustainable development. In both roles, Iana is driving an agenda for a multidisciplinary and human-centered approach to sustainable development enabled by a prepared engineering workforce, technological innovation, social entrepreneurship, cross-sector partnerships and supporting ecosystems. Iana has over 15 years of experience in academic, research and nonprofit sectors focusing on the intersection of engineering design, business strategy and social impact. Iana holds a BASc of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto.

Jonathan Kemp is a Program Specialist with Engineering for Change (E4C) and with the Engineering Global Development department at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). In this role, he works on various programs advancing engineering for social impact and global development, including the E4C Fellowship and ASME’s Innovation Showcase (ISHOW). Prior to his work with E4C and ASME, Jonathan worked as the Technical Manager for Malawian NGO Eagles Relief and Development Programme, where he worked on projects involving solar energy, irrigation, and water supply for community development. He is passionate about community ownership of technology and the application of human- and user-centered design processes in the development of new technologies and implementation of technology-based projects by NGOs. Jonathan graduated with an MSc in Engineering for International Development from University College London in 2018 after receiving a BA (Hons) degree in Physics from the University of Oxford in 2017.