IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC)
Technology for the Benefit of Humanity // Villanova University, USA / October 23-26, 2024

Keynote & Featured Speakers 2013

Index of Keynote and Invited/Featured Speakers

Alfredo Herrera Workshop
Anand B Workshop
Andy Vidan Keynote
Avron Barr Workshop
Aydogan Ozcan Keynote
Cait Emma Smith Featured
Carolyn Dickerson Workshop
Cormac Lynch Panelist
Deepak Mathur Workshop
Desiree Matel-Anderson Keynote
Dominick Tolli Keynote
Edilson Arenas Workshop
Eric Brewer Keynote
Erna Grasz Moderator
Ferial El-Hawary Featured
Gathii Kanyi Panelist
Gerardo Capiel Keynote
H. Timothy Hsiao Keynote
Holly Schneider Brown Workshop
James D. Plummer Keynote
Julia Bluff Featured
Kapil R. Dandekar Workshop
Kartik Kulkarni Workshop
Kevin Roe Featured
Maurizio Vecchione Featured
Nigel Snoad Keynote
Pamela McCauley Bush Featured
Patrick Kane Workshop
Prasanna Venkatesan Workshop
Raj Madhavan Featured
Roger Johnson Featured
Ryan Bank Featured
Stan Mierzwa Panelist
Tala de los Santos Keynote
Thomson Nguyen Keynote
Tyde Richards Workshop
Tyler Valiquette Keynote
V. K. Damodaran Featured
Willow Brugh Keynote

Alfredo Herrera

Founder, IEEE-Canada (R7) Humanitarian Initiatives Committee

Workshop Presenter

Biographical notes: Alfredo Herrera is an electrical engineer with over 16 years of experience in digital design and verification (ASIC/FPGA), radio system performance verification, technical project management and manufacturing test engineering. He is a senior radio performance verification engineer at Ericsson, and he is experienced in measurement and automation of multi-standard software defined cellular radios. Alfredo is currently finalising a Master degree in Systems Science and his thesis in on Open Source Hardware for human development at the university of Ottawa. Alfredo actively participated in IEEE’s Humanitarian Technology Challenge, joining the Reliable Electricity Solutions team in 2009 and later being one of the founding members of the PES Community Solutions Initiative. He likes learning, working on complex problems, and helping others; as can be observed throughout his career as well as in his volunteering for the IEEE. Alfredo is currently a member of the Steering Committee of IEEE’s Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT). He has also served as:
* Vice-chair (2005-2011) and chair (2011-2013) of the IEEE Ottawa chapter of the Technology Management Council.
* Secretary (2008) of the IEEE Ottawa section.
* Chair (2007) of the IEEE Workshop on Accelerating Computationally Intensive Applications
* Founder (2009) and chair (2010-2012) of the IEEE-Canada Humanitarian Initiatives Committee.


Anand B

AnandBChair, IEEE Madras SIGHT

Workshop Presenter

Biographical notes: Anand B is an Entrepreneur and is the Co-founder & Director of Trentz Interactive Services Private Limited. Prior to this, he was working as Projects Analysis & Management Lead for Innovation eXperience. He is an Electrical & Electronics Engineer by education, who is primarily interested in social innovation models and technologies that can enable equitable socio-economic developments.

He has been an IEEE volunteer since 2009 and is currently the Vice Chairman for Student Branch Networking with IEEE Region 10 Student Activities Committee-India, Student Network Coordinator with IEEE Madras Section and Chairman for IEEE Madras Section-SIGHT group (Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology) & Executive Committee Member of IEEE Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Activities Committee. With all these he has enhanced the student branches to collaborate and network for improving student activities and initiated humanitarian activities & interest across the country.

Anand has organized and volunteered for about 125+ events with IEEE and received 15+ recognitions and various prestigious awards for his outstanding leadership & services to IEEE. He has also received other awards like IEEE Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Activities Project Award & IEEE Region 10 Student Paper Award. His other interests include playing badminton, he being a shuttler has played and represented in various state and national badminton tournaments


Andy Vidan

Associate Technology Officer, MIT Lincoln LaboratoryAndyVidan

Keynote Speaker, Panelist

Title: Advanced Technology Research and Capability Insertion

Biographical notes: Dr. Andy Vidan has been involved in a broad range of research programs related to homeland security and defense at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, where his work included systems analysis, architecture and technology assessments, and prototype development. Dr. Vidan served as the technical lead for the Laboratory’s Distributed Disaster Response program, developing advanced technology solutions in support of large-scale crisis response and management. This technology, deployed as the Next-Generation Incident Command System, is being used in a variety of response operations, including combating major wildland fires in Southern California. Dr. Vidan also served on the U.S. Southern Command assessment team that responded to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. In his current role, Dr. Vidan is responsible for defining and managing the internal research and development investment portfolio of the Laboratory and for developing programs in new technology areas.


Avron Barr

Director, The LETSI Foundation (Learning, Education, and Training Systems Interoperability)

Workshop Presenter

Avron Barr PhotoBiographical notes: Avron Barr is the Director of The LETSI Foundation and Vice Chair of the IEEE’s Learning Technology Standards Committee. His early work included research on intelligent tutoring systems at Stanford University; editing the four-volume Handbook of Artificial Intelligence (a book club selection); and co-founding a Silicon Valley software startup that went public in 1986. Since then, he has advised dozens of companies, startups, government agencies, and NGOs about the process of bringing innovative software products to market. During the 1990’s, he co-directed a study of the global software industry at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. In recent years, he’s been on the Advisory Board for the DARPA DARWARS project on serious games; served as Strategic Director for SCORM at the DoD’s Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative; and helped start LETSI’s work on open software standards to support an era of rapid evolution in educational technology. He teaches a freshman seminar on The Business of the Internet at Stanford and spends his spare time hiking in the redwood forests around Santa Cruz, California.


Aydogan Ozcan

Associate Professor, UCLA / Electrical Engineering and BioEngineering departments

Keynote speaker

Title: Computational Microscopy, Sensing and Diagnostics for Telemedicine and Global Health Applications

hv0x6806_v2Biographical notes: Dr. Ozcan is a Professor at UCLA leading the Bio- and Nano-Photonics Laboratory at the Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering Departments. Dr. Ozcan holds 22 issued patents and 15 pending patent applications and is also the author of one book and the co-author of more than 270 peer reviewed research articles.

Dr. Ozcan received several awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), SPIE Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award, SPIE Early Career Achievement Award, ARO Young Investigator Award, NSF CAREER Award, NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, ONR Young Investigator Award, IEEE Photonics Society Young Investigator Award and MIT’s TR35 Award for his seminal contributions to near-field and on-chip imaging, and telemedicine based diagnostics.

Dr. Ozcan is also the recipient of the National Geographic Emerging Explorer Award, Popular Science Brilliant 10 Award, Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award. Ozcan is a Fellow of SPIE and a Senior Member of IEEE.

For more information about Dr. Ozcan, his work and team please go to http://innovate.ee.ucla.edu .


Cait Emma Smith

Advocacy Outreach Representative, iFixIt.org

Featured speaker

Title: Repair is Noble: Fixing the Global Water Crisis

CaitemmaAbstract: Water is our most basic, human need. When clean, it is the lifeblood of safe, successful communities. When contaminated, it destroys economic growth, cripples villages, and ends lives. Today, almost one billion people don’t have clean water, and several children die each minute due to water-related illnesses.

Organizations like Lifewater International have arrived at a powerful solution: build wells in villages that lack access to clean drinking water. Just as vital, installing these pumps ensures that women and children spend their time at school instead of trekking hours each day to the nearest lake or river.

But, like everything else, water pumps eventually break. Valves snap and pipe bursts under the strain of constant use. As many as 36% of the water pumps installed in the developing world by NGOs are broken. When that happens, communities are often left without the knowledge or resources to make repairs or modifications. The vital flow of water simply stops.

Lifewater International and iFixit.com are partnering to make sure that rural villages have access to clean drinking water, and that they have the knowledge and tools they need to keep the water running. Learn how water pumps and open-source repair manuals are creating a more sustainable, healthier future for thousands of people around the world.

Biographical notes: Cait Emma Smith is a writer and an Advocacy Outreach Representative at iFixit.com in San Luis Obispo, CA. She develops and fosters relationships that iFixit has with other sustainability organizations across the world. As a member of iFixit’s marketing and public relations team, she also works to engage all demographics of the Fixer movement. In the hopes of making repair part of the global, environmental solution, she educates the public on the impacts of e-waste and electronics manufacturing.

Prior to writing for iFixit, she has worked with a variety of GNOs including Restorative Partners, The Southern Eye Bank of New Orleans, Habitat for Humanity, and Shake-a-Leg Miami.

She received her B.A. in English literature and Women’s Studies from Loyola University New Orleans and is currently finishing her M.A. in English literature at California Polytechnic State University.


Carolyn Dickerson

Carolyn Dickerson

Teacher and School Technology Administrator

Workshop Presenter

Biographical notes: Carolyn Dickerson grew up on the plains of Colorado in the US. She majored in Mathematics and Deaf education and upon graduating, taught and interpreted in the K-12 arena for 12 years before moving on to technology. She developed her technology skills with EDS before returning to education in a technical role. She currently works at a college in Colorado as a Data Analyst.

 


Cormac Lynch

CEO and Founder, Camara LearningCormacLynch

Panelist

Title: Culturally Relevant and Usable Innovation and Technology

Biographical notes: Cormac Lynch is the Founder of Camara and the CEO of Camara Learning in the UK. He has an engineering and finance background having spent 5 years as a petroleum engineer in the North Sea and 12 years as an investment banker in London, New York and Moscow. Prior to starting Camara, he was Chief Executive of NIKoil, a medium-sized Russian Investment Bank. In addition to his undergraduate degree from Trinity College Dublin (1st Class Engineering Science), he has an MSc from Imperial College London, an MBA from Stanford University and a MSc in Development Studies from UCD.


Deepak Mathur

IEEE Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Activities Committee (HTC) CoordinatorDeepakMathur

Workshop Presenter

Biographical notes: Deepak Mathur is a long-time active IEEE volunteer and works as Deputy General Manager with Infocom Services of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd., India’s premier public sector company. Deepak, who works at senior management level of the company, leads a team of IT professionals and is responsible for planning and execution of IT projects. He has successfully done planning and executions of many projects like SCADA, on-line/real-time monitoring systems, IT Infrastructure creation, Wi-Max based broadband wireless access system.

Deepak earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communication from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee and also holds an MBA.

Deepak has served at various volunteer positions in IEEE at the Section, Council and Region level. He was Chair of Gujarat Section (2006-07) and is currently a member of Region10 EXCOM (Region10 Humanitarian Technology Activities Coordinator). He is also a Board Member of SSIT (IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology)and also serves as Editor of the SSIT e-Newsletter.

Deepak is also a recipient of ‘2008 Region10 Outstanding Volunteer Award’ and ‘2010 IEEE MGA Achievement Award’.

Deepak believes that in view of the growth of technology and its growing application in our daily life, IEEE plays a very important and significant role in the society also. IEEE needs to focus more on humanitarian technology and social implications of technology aspect through its programs. He believes that if more engineers start looking at social aspects of technologies, many problems arising from excessive use and/or mis-use of technologies could be addressed and technologies could be used for improving the life of under privileged population.


Desiree Matel-Anderson

Chief Innovation Advisor/Think Tank Strategic Vision Coordinator, Federal Emergency Management Agency

Keynote speaker

Title: Innovating in Times of DisasterDesiMatelAnderson

Biographical notes: Desiree (Desi) Matel-Anderson is the Chief Innovation Advisor at FEMA and Think Tank Strategic Vision Coordinator. During her tenure at FEMA, she led the first innovation team down to Hurricane Sandy to provide real-time problem solving in disaster response and recovery. She also runs think tanks nation-wide to cultivate innovation in communities. Desi began her emergency management experience by volunteering in Northern Illinois University’s Office of Emergency Planning followed by working in the Southeast Wisconsin Urban Area Security Initiative and the City of Milwaukee Homeland Security and Emergency Management Office. She has also worked on numerous innovative projects with agencies, communities, organizations and companies throughout her career. In addition to her background in emergency management and innovation, Desi continues to periodically lecture at Harvard and various universities on innovation which includes consulting agencies and countries internationally on innovative practices and infrastructure. Desi attended the National Preparedness Leadership Institute at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and School of Public Health in 2011 and obtained a Juris Doctorate from Northern Illinois University in 2009.


Dominick Tolli

VP Product Management, American Red CrossDomTolli

Keynote speaker and Panelist

Title: Red Cross “Disaster Apps” for smartphones

Biographical notes: Dom Tolli has led the team that has developed and implemented new services to help people and organizations be prepared for emergencies. Dom and his team have built Smartphone apps that put critical information and services at people’s fingertips when they need it most. From the First Aid app to the Hurricane app to the soon to be -released Earthquake app, all of these tools empower people with the knowledge they need at the time they need it. Having this information in people’s pockets when they need it most will save lives and reduce suffering. Also, building upon the work of staff at the St. Louis chapter and executives of Anheuser-Busch, Dom and his team have created a revised Ready Rating service to help businesses, schools, and organizations assess and improve their disaster readiness. A Ready Rating Assessment quantifies a company’s level of preparedness. From here, organizations take specific next steps to improve their preparedness level, create a customized emergency response plan, and the ability to compare their level others in their industry or state.


Edilson Arenas

School of Engineering, CQUniversity, Australia

Workshop Presenter

Edilson Arenas smallBiographical notes: Edilson Arenas has an extensive industry experience in the areas of Software Development, Internet Systems, Multimedia and Educational Technologies. From 1992 to February 2002, Edilson worked for Melbourne University – Australia, initially as the Technical Co-coordinator of a major multimedia production unit, followed by the position of Multimedia Systems Specialist and then as an Educational Designer at the Teaching Learning & Research Support Department of the university.

Before Melbourne University, Edilson was the Head of the Division of Engineering of Discos Fuentes, a major South American record company. There, Edilson was in charge of the evaluation, research and development of engineering projects including the design of professional audio recording studios, television studios, control rooms, video production and postproduction facilities.

In 2002, Edilson joined CQUniversity- Australia where he is currently a senior lecturer in the School of Engineering and Technology.

Edilson holds a bachelor of Electronics Engineering from the University of Antioquia – Colombia and a Masters of Engineering in Information Technology from RMIT Melbourne – Australia. Edilson also holds a PhD in education from Deakin University – Australia. His PhD research project investigated the affordances of ICT to ameliorate higher education teaching and learning environments that blend both face-to-face and online pedagogies.


Eric Brewer

Eric-Brewer-small

Professor, Computer Science Division, University of California at Berkeley

Keynote speaker

Title: Technology and Infrastructure for Emerging Regions  

Biographical notes: Dr. Brewer focuses on all aspects of Internet-based systems, including technology, strategy, and government. As a researcher, he has led projects on scalable servers, search engines, network infrastructure, sensor networks, and security. His current focus is (high) technology for developing regions, with projects in India, Ghana, and Uganda among others, and including communications, health care, education, and e-government.

In 1996, he co-founded Inktomi Corporation with a Berkeley grad student based on their research prototype, and helped lead it onto the NASDAQ 100 before it was bought by Yahoo! in March 2003.

In 2000, he founded the Federal Search Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization focused on improving consumer access to government information. Working with President Clinton, Dr. Brewer helped to create USA.gov, the official portal of the Federal government, which launched in September 2000.

He was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering for leading the development of scalable servers (early cloud computing), and also received the ACM Mark Weiser award for 2009. He received an MS and Ph.D. in EECS from the MIT, and a BS in EECS from UC Berkeley. He was named a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum, by the Industry Standard as the “most influential person on the architecture of the Internet”, by InfoWorld as one of their top ten innovators, b y Technology Review as one of the top 100 most influential people for the 21st century (the “TR100”), and by Forbes as one of their 12 “e-mavericks”, for which he appeared on the cover.


Erna Grasz

CEO, Asante AfricaErnaAsante

Panel Moderator

Title: Culturally Relevant and Usable Innovation and Technology

Abstract:In order for a solution to be accepted, it has to be what the “users” want, sustainable long term, and serviceable. It also has to be culturally relevant and socialized to have a chance of success. Be prepared to be stimulated and challenged. This panel of experts who work daily “in the developing country fields” will share the mistakes, the provocative concepts, and the realities of what is involved to bring innovation and technology into developing rural communities. This panel is unique in their historical careers and education and how that helps them to adapt to the realities of working in developing countries.

Biographical notes: As an experienced executive, Erna Grasz established a reputation as a strategic leader with demonstrated success in diverse industries, including Medical Device, Defense Research, and Semiconductor Capital Equipment. She has led organizations, teams and individuals to success in fast-paced, high-stress, and results-orientated environments for over 20 years and is known as an organizer of chaos and a “”turn-around”” leader. Three years ago, Erna has transitioned her leadership skills from being a Chief Technology Officer in the Medical Device Market to the non-profit world as the CEO of Asante Africa Foundation. Erna is an award-winning speaker with Toastmasters International. She has published numerous articles on leadership, communication skills and project management. Her advanced degrees are in MS Electrical Engineering and Engineering Management from Texas Tech University and Santa Clara University.


Ferial El-Hawary

IEEE Canada (R-7) HIC Chair

Featured Speaker

Title: IEEE-Canada (R-7) Humanitarian Initiative Committee (HIC) Overview

Abstract: Canada is recognized internationally as a humanitarian nation participating in:
– Disaster Relief (Canada’s rapid-response team)
– Peace Keeping, Humanitarian Intervention,
– International Development (CIDA)

Canada is a world leader in the technological areas of selected challenges in the HTC: Communications, Health and Energy. Also, IEEE-Canada is the home of Pioneers and Milestones.

Many of IEEE Canada members are already actively involved leading humanitarian efforts, including the HTC, but due to the geographical barriers and scarcity of resources/scale there has not been a concerted effort to support such individuals.

This presentation will show how much progress have been made since forming HIC as an Adhoc committee in 2009 and became a standing committee with its own structure under R-7 Bylaws This committee now is dealing with all IEEE-Canada volunteers across the country with many Humanitarian related projects that will be highlighted in this presentation.

For example IEEE-Canada HIC has established : Students Design Competition, Students Papers Competition, Panel Discussions, Workshops and Planning for the (IEEE-Canada (R-7) Global Humanitarian Technology Conference GHTC’2014, Montreal, Canada)

IEEE-Canada HIC is also established some Alignment with: IEEE (SIGHT) , IEEE-Canada (Conferences and Workshops), IEEE-Canada Sections (Engaging the members and assisting Sections) and EWB; all will be detailed in the presentation

Biographical notes: Dr. Ferial El-Hawary, is an Fellow of IEEE , Fellow of MTS, and Fellow of EIC. She was IEEE-Canada (R-7) Director in 2008 – 2009, member of the IEEE OES Board 2009 – 2014, and is IEEE-Canada HIC Chair 2012 – 2014.


Gathii Kanyi

Kenya Country Manager, Asante Africa FoundationGathiiKanyi

Panelist

Title: Culturally Relevant and Usable Innovation and Technology

Biographical notes: Gathii Kanyi lives in Thika Kenya and holds a MS in Entrepreneurship (MSc in Entrepreneurship) from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology-Kenya, B.Ed from Moi University-Kenya and Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He has worked as a teacher with the Government of Kenya for over 13 years where he taught in three public schools in both Makueni and Murang’a South. Kanyi has also worked with Public and Private Development (PPD) Consultants since 2006 as an associate director in charge of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) development. He has participated in various projects including designing proposal for assessing the impact of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in Kenya. In 2012 he received the African International Achievers Award for innovative concepts for improving academic performances of youth.


Gerardo Capiel

VP Engineering, BenetechGerardoCapiel

Keynote speaker

Title: Making an Impact through Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software

Abstract:Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software, also know as HFOSS, has gained prominence among those working on large global social causes such as disaster relief, human rights and education. In this keynote address, Gerardo Capiel will discuss the importance of free and open source software, especially for meeting the needs of the human rights movement, and describe the impact coders are making through ongoing HFOSS work.

Already, organizations like FrontlineSMS, The Guardian Project, Benetech and Amara (formerly Universal Subtitles) have embraced HFOSS to produce critical tools that meet a range of social needs. With the help of paid staff, but increasingly through a community of volunteer developers, designers and other professionals, these nonprofit HFOSS organizations are dramatically accelerating their impact.

To capitalize on this powerful movement, Benetech’s newest initiative, SocialCoding4Good, has begun working with both nonprofit HFOSS organizations and tech companies, including Google, HP, ThoughtWorks and VMware, to increase the number of people within the corporate space that volunteer their talent, time and code to HFOSS projects. Gerardo will discuss SocialCoding4Good and use the evolution of Benetech’s Martus software for human rights defenders, including some of its enhancements-in-progress, as a case study of how HFOSS is being used to benefit humanity.

Biographical notes: Gerardo Capiel is VP of Engineering at Benetech – a nonprofit with a pure focus on developing technology for the social good. Benetech’s business model aims to create sustainable, not profitable, projects, which allows us to do more and to be more creative in how we apply technology to accelerate social progress. We have four main program areas — Human Rights, Access to Literacy, Environment, and Benetech Labs.

Gerardo has over 20 years of experience leading the development of innovative Internet and enterprise software. Prior to joining Benetech, he was Co-Founder, Director and CTO of Digital Impact, a publicly traded e-marketing software vendor. Gerardo was also Co-Founder and CEO of Gydget, which created social network marketing products for the entertainment and nonprofit sectors.

Gerardo has a B.S. from M.I.T. in Engineering Systems and Computation and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.


H. Timothy Hsiao

USAID Office of Science & TechnologyHTHsiao

Keynote Speaker

Title: Open Source Development and New Opportunities for Humanitarian Technologists

Abstract: Since the USAID Forward agenda was announced in 2010, USAID has been undertaking reforms to adopt an “Open Source Development” model that empowers more people everywhere to tackle global challenges. A main focus area of the USAID reform agenda is to identify and scale up innovative, breakthrough solutions. In his August 1, 2012 remarks at the Aspen Institute, USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah stated: “To support an open source development approach, our Agency must serve as a platform that connects world’s biggest development challenges to development problems solvers – all around the world.” To this end, USAID is expanding partnerships with scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs and advancing development innovations through programs like Grand Challenges for Development, the Higher Education Solutions Network, and various prize mechanisms. With reference to these initiatives, some of the new opportunities for humanitarian technologists will be presented.

Biographical notes: Tim is a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow serving as an Innovation and Acceleration Advisor at USAID. At USAID, Tim advises internal clients on challenge-driven open innovation strategies and practices, and leads the editing of the new catalog of development technologies to accelerate technology diffusion for impact. As a scientist, Tim previously addressed issues of medical and agricultural significance ranging from cancer, virology, biosensing, and genetic engineering during his research career at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Yale University, Imperial College London (U.K.), and Academia Sinica (Taiwan), and he traveled to China, Germany, and Switzerland to present his discoveries. Tim also managed military platoons in the Taiwan airborne forces, and founded two initiatives: the Technology Ventures Program at the Yale Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Society, and MindsforNeeds CIGD, a collaborative innovation platform dedicated to identifying value-creating and actionable solutions for the operational challenges in international development.


Holly Schneider Brown

Program Manager, IEEE SIGHTHollySchneiderBrown

Workshop Presenter

Biographical notes: Holly Schneider Brown is Program Manager, Corporate Activities at IEEE, where she supports the Humanitarian Ad Hoc Committee (HAHC), including the Special Interest Groups on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT) Steering Committee. She is the program manager of the Engineering for Change (E4C) Webinar Series and serves on the advisory committee for the Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) 2013. Holly holds a BA from Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY and an MA from the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. With over 10 years of professional experience in program and project management, Holly is the IEEE staff lead in developing and executing the SIGHT program.


James D. Plummer

Dean of Engineering, Stanford UniversityJimPlummer

Keynote Speaker

Title: Preparing Students for Innovative, Game Changing, Purposeful Careers

Abstract:Undergraduate students today are seeking careers that will “change the world”. They care about the world’s big problems – energy, the environment, human health and making life better for all of the world’s people. Engineers are part of the solution to these problems because they bring a set of technical skills that can provide technical solutions. But none of these major problems will be solved by technology alone. We need to provide for these students, in addition to technical skills, skills in innovation, entrepreneurship, and problem solving when problems are ill-defined or when there is no obvious solution. Students also need to acquire skills in working in interdisciplinary teams and they need strong leadership skills to drive progress on big problems. Many engineering schools are working to provide the broader education that these skills imply, not just for engineering students but for undergraduates in all majors. This talk will focus on how we can educate the next generation of young people who will be prepared to tackle the world’s biggest problems.

Biographical notes: Jim Plummer is Dean of Engineering and Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. Prior to becoming Dean, he was the chair of the EE department at Stanford. He received his BSEE degree from UCLA and MS and Ph.D. degrees in EE from Stanford.

Dr. Plummer is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of the IEEE. He has received a number of awards for his research including, the 1991 Gordon Moore Medal for Solid State Science and Technology from the Electrochemical Society, the 2001 Semiconductor Industry Association University Research Award, the 2003 IEEE Ebers Award and the 2007 IEEE Andrew S. Grove Award. He has graduated over 80 Ph.D. students with whom he has published more than 400 journal and conference papers. These papers have won 8 conference and student best paper awards. He has also received three teaching awards at Stanford. He serves on the Board of Directors of several public companies including Intel. His primary research interests are in nanoscale silicon devices.


Julia Bluff

Lead Advocacy Writer, iFixIt.org

Featured speaker

Title: Repair is Noble: Fixing the Global Water Crisis

juliabluffAbstract: Water is our most basic, human need. When clean, it is the lifeblood of safe, successful communities. When contaminated, it destroys economic growth, cripples villages, and ends lives. Today, almost one billion people don’t have clean water, and several children die each minute due to water-related illnesses.

Organizations like Lifewater International have arrived at a powerful solution: build wells in villages that lack access to clean drinking water. Just as vital, installing these pumps ensures that women and children spend their time at school instead of trekking hours each day to the nearest lake or river.

But, like everything else, water pumps eventually break. Valves snap and pipe bursts under the strain of constant use. As many as 36% of the water pumps installed in the developing world by NGOs are broken. When that happens, communities are often left without the knowledge or resources to make repairs or modifications. The vital flow of water simply stops.

Lifewater International and iFixit.com are partnering to make sure that rural villages have access to clean drinking water, and that they have the knowledge and tools they need to keep the water running. Learn how water pumps and open-source repair manuals are creating a more sustainable, healthier future for thousands of people around the world.

Biographical notes: Julia Bluff is the Lead Advocacy Writer for iFixit.com in San Luis Obispo, CA. With iFixit, Julia has worked to increase awareness of repair culture and further the emerging Fixer movement by making information on repair easier to access around the world. Her current projects include water pump repair, medical device repair, and consumer electronics repair.

She has researched and written extensively on e-waste, cell phone unlocking, electronics manufacturing, repair, and the environment.

Julia received her B.A. in English literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz and her M.A. in English literature at California Polytechnic State University.


Kapil R. Dandekar

Drexel University, co-founder Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) in IEEEKapil-Dandekar pic

Workshop Presenter

Biographical notes: Kapil R. Dandekar (S’95–M’01–SM’07) received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering (1997) from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA; the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin (1998,2001), Austin, TX. Beginning in 2001, he joined the faculty at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. He is currently an Associate Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University; the Director of the Drexel Wireless Systems Laboratory; Associate Dean for Research in the Drexel University College of Engineering. Dandekar’s research has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, Army CERDEC, National Security Agency, Office of Naval Research, and private industry. Dandekar’s current research interests and publications involve wireless, ultrasonic, and optical communications, reconfigurable antennas, and sensor networks. Antenna technology from DWSL has been licensed by external companies for technology commercialization.

Dandekar has worked on several pre-university and continuing education activities for the IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB). He was a founding editorial board member of IEEE ExpertNow / eLearning. He has also served as a volunteer working on the Teacher in Service Program, TryEngineering.org, and TryComputing.org. Starting in 2009, Dandekar, with collaborator Saurabh Sinha, developed a new program called Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) in IEEE. To date, this program has launched 50 projects in IEEE sections all over the world. In 2012, he received the IEEE EAB Meritorious Service Award for his work with EPICS in IEEE


Kartik Kulkarni

KartikKulkarniChair IEEE SIGHT Steering Committee

Workshop Presenter

Biographical notes: Kartik Kulkarni works for Oracle USA’s Database R&D team – Data Technology Group. He has Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU); He is an alumnus of CMU’s Parallel Data Lab, where his research was on scaling metadata performance of cluster file systems. He did his Bachelors from B.V.Bhoomaraddi College (BVBCET) Hubli, India in Electronics and Communication.

Kartik chairs the IEEE Special Interest Groups on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT) Steering Committee and sits on the IEEE Humanitarian Ad Hoc Committee. He co-founded the All IEEE-R10 Young Engineers’ Humanitarian Challenge in 2009 and has scaled the initiative to Asia Pacific level in 2013. He is a recipient of IEEE MGA GOLD Achievement award in 2011.

Kartik received the Fellowship from National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) to study and participate in ICT Policies and Governance; he was later delegated to represent in the ICANN’s 41stmeeting at Singapore in 2011. Kartik led the team winning IEEE Presidents’ Change the World Competition in 2009 for the project – Electronic Aids for Physically and Mentally handicapped children; for which he was awarded at the 2009 IEEE Honors Ceremony in Los Angeles.


Kevin Roe, Esq.

R&D Patent Attorneys

Featured Speaker

Title: The Ultimate Robot Challenge at Fukushima

Abstract: Without repair at the reactors, endless radionuclide (Cesium 137, Strontium 90, etc.) contamination from Fukushima will poison the entire Pacific Rim and all seafood. The Fukushima reactors cannot be repaired by robots or humans due to extremely high radiation. Conventional robots that have entered the reactors have been fried by the radiation. But there is another possible approach.

Biographical notes: Kevin Roe is a patent attorney at R&D Patent Attorneys in Campbell, CA, with a PhD in electrical engineering (University of California), and a MS in electrical engineering (Stanford University). He has previously worked as an electrical engineer at IBM, Xerox PARC, and Sun Microsystems. He has worked on all aspects of IC technology design, fabrication, packaging, testing and failure analysis. He has also worked over three years on fault tolerant computers and robotic assembly. Kevin has many friends and relatives in Japan. He has been personally active in fund-raising efforts to send money and food to children living near Fukushima City, which is dangerously close to the destroyed nuclear reactors at Fukushima Dai-Ichi.


Maurizio Vecchione

Vice President, Intellectual Ventures-Global Good

Featured Speaker

Title: Unlocking the Catalytic Power of Invention

MaurizioVecchioneAbstract: Millions of people suffer and die each year in developing countries from causes that humanity has the scientific and technical ability to solve. Global Good is a collaborative effort between Bill Gates and Intellectual Ventures to address this. Working with NGOs, governments and commercial partners, Global Good invents, develops, and deploys technology that improves life in developing countries. In this talk, Vecchione discusses Global Good’s market-based approach to achieving sustainable impact with their inventions and highlights opportunities he sees on the horizon for technology to benefit those who stand to benefit most. This includes recent breakthroughs that could help prevent 1.5 million childhood deaths by better-understanding and strengthening the vaccine supply chain.

Biographical notes: Maurizio Vecchione is the vice president for Global Good at Intellectual Ventures. In this role, he oversees IV’s collaboration with Bill Gates to invent and deploy technology specifically focused on improving life in developing countries. Mr. Vecchione most recently served as CEO of Arrogene, which is commercializing a new nanotechnology platform for cancer therapeutics and diagnostics, and as CEO of telemedicine pioneer CompuMed.

Mr. Vecchione has nearly 30 years of experience in the technology sector. He has contributed to building nine start-ups and helped launch more than 50 commercial products, resulting in more than $1 billion in shareholder value. His work spans the software, internet, wireless and life sciences sectors, primarily in connection with technologies incubated by government and university R&D efforts.

As an inventor himself, Mr. Vecchione is named on multiple U.S. patents and patent applications related to imaging, image processing, nano-bio-polymer and telecommunications technologies. He was twice a finalist for the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year award, received a DEMO God award from the prestigious DEMO organization and is a member of ACM and IEEE.


Nigel Snoad

Product Manager, Google Crisis ResponseNigel Snoad

Keynote speaker and Panelist

Title: Crisis Response — Google

Biographical notes: Nigel is a product manager for Google’s Crisis Response team, which is changing how citizens stay informed during crises by providing information and tools to help people collaborate during emergencies and build resilient communities.

Before joining Google in 2011, Nigel led R&D on humanitarian systems at Microsoft and spent several years at the United Nations helping lead pandemic contingency planning and the UN Joint Logistics Center’s responses in Iraq, after the 2004 tsunami and in Darfur. Nigel has taught courses in Humanitarian Design at Parsons the New School for Design, partnering with groups like the World Bank and the Red Cross to develop innovative design-thinking approaches to complex humanitarian and development problems. Nigel has a PhD in complex adaptive systems from the Australian National University and has held research fellowships at the Santa Fe Institute and Stanford University.


Pamela McCauley Bush

Professor, University of Central FloridaProf Pamela M Bush

Featured speaker, Plenary Moderator

Title: Occupational Ergonomics and Safety in Developing Countries: A Humanitarian Imperative

Abstract:Dr. Pamela McCauley Bush provides an insightful and in-depth discussion of ergonomics, safety and health in occupational and manufacturing environments in developing nations. Her engineering focused keynote address on real world applications covers the discussion of ergonomics and biomechanical applications in the design and evaluation of products and equipment from cell phones to automobiles and equipment used by agencies from the Department of Defense to clothing manufacturers. The criticality, cost effectiveness and humanitarian responsibility for international companies to consider the implementation of these factors in developing nations is discussed.

Biographical notes: Dr. Pamela McCauley Bush is a nationally recognized speaker, entrepreneur, author and Full Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems at the University of Central Florida where she leads the Human Factors in Disaster Management Research Team. She previously held the position of Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Through incredible determination and vision, Dr. Bush overcame immense life hurdles to be hailed today as an award-winning innovational leader, respected engineering expert and a globally renowned motivational speaker in the Women’s Leadership and STEM Education communities.

She is the author of over 80 technical papers, book chapters and conference proceedings. Most recently, Dr. Bush authored Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation: Inspiration and Strategies for Women published by ELSEVIER Academic Press (2012), a practical yet research based approach on the growing need for leadership and innovation in America, particularly among women and STEM professionals. The book is useful for the individual, organization, community or academic program desiring to grow leadership and innovation capacity in order to produce more impactful leaders.

Dr. Bush has been described as an outstanding professor and teacher. Her teaching efforts have resulted in the receipt of both the College of Engineering Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the Teaching Incentive Program Award (TIP). Her research focus includes human factors in disaster management, evaluation and development of artificial intelligence models using fuzzy set theory, human factors model development, human factors in chemical and biological weapon development and the human impact in information security. Dr. Bush has the distinction of being a 2012 U.S. Fulbright Scholar Specialist Program Awardee for her US-New Zealand Human Engineering and Mobile Technology in High Consequence Emergency Management Research Program. Dr. Bush is also a highly sought Certified Professional Ergonomist (C.P.E.) and expert witness.


Patrick Kane

Internet of Things Evangelist, Cypress Semiconductor

PatrickKaneWorkshop Presenter

Biographical notes: Patrick Kane is the director of the Cypress University Alliance Program (CUA) at Cypress Semiconductor Corporation and an affiliate professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of New Hampshire, Durham. The Cypress University Alliance Program is dedicated to partnering with academia to ensure that professors and students have access to the latest Cypress PSoC technology for use in education and research. Patrick joined the Cypress in July 2006. Before joining Cypress, Patrick spent 13 ½ years at Xilinx in a variety of technical and marketing roles including Applications Engineering, Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, Technical Training, and managing the Xilinx University Program (XUP). Prior to Xilinx, Patrick spent a number of years at both Advanced Micro Devices and Lattice Semiconductor Inc. He holds BSEE and MBA degrees and has authored numerous articles and conference papers. Patrick is currently pursuing the doctorate in educational technology.


Prasanna Venkatesan

prasannaEPICS in India

Workshop Presenter

Biographical notes: Prasanna is the co-founder of amgonna.com and hubvents.com. He is primarily interested in business models and technology that can enable effective real life people connections Prior to this he worked with the IBM Software Labs . At IBM in collaboration with IBM Research he initiated and lead the iCollaborate project on people connections that was further demonstrated in the ACM SIGIR Conference . He also lead the IBM campus relations effort for National Institute of Technology , Warangal from where he graduated with Bachelors in Computer Science in 2008 and conducted research on Security and access control techniques .

He has been an IEEE Volunteer since 2004 . He is currently a voting member on the IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB) and a member of the EAB Society Education Outreach Committee (SEOC), EPICS and Pre University Education Coordination Committee (PECC). He lead the expansion of EPICS in India initiating 15 projects in the last 2 years . He is also currently serving as the R10 GINI Coordinator and R10 Membership development coordinator for IEEE Computer Society. He is highly interested in IEEE Pre-University efforts and leads the Teacher in Service Program activities in India


Raj Madhavan

Chair,  IEEE RAS – SIGHT

Featured Speaker

Title: Robotics and Automation Technologies for Improving the Quality of Life for Humanity

Abstract:   In the Fall of 2012, the IEEE Humanitarian Ad Hoc Committee (HAHC) approved the formation of a new IEEE Robotics & Automation Society – Special Interest Group o Raj_Madhavann Humanitarian Technology (RAS-SIGHT). RAS is the first IEEE Society to have a SIGHT. The mission of RAS-SIGHT is the application of robotics and automation (R&A) technologies for promoting humanitarian causes around the globe, and to leverage existing and emerging technologies for the benefit of humanity towards increasing the quality of life in under-served, under-developed areas in collaboration with existing global communities and organizations. Currently, our efforts are focused on three areas: Technical- and Industrial partnerships, and Education. This talk will provide a brief overview of RAS-SIGHT but will also include the speaker’s thoughts on how R&A technologies can bring about sustainable quality of life improvements for humanity.

Biographical notes:   Raj Madhavan is an associate research scientist with the Institute for Systems Research, and a member of the Maryland Robotics Center at the University of Maryland, College Park (currently on leave) and was a guest researcher with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA (until June 2013).  Over the last 18 years, he has contributed to various topics in field robotics, and systems and control theory. His research interests include autonomous vehicle navigation in unstructured environments, performance evaluation and testing, benchmarking, and standardization of intelligent systems. Currently he is on leave investigating the application of robotics and automation technologies for promoting humanitarian causes in a variety of domains.

Dr. Madhavan has edited two books and four journal special issues, and has published over 170 papers in archival journals, conferences, and technical reports. He has served as an invited independent judge for robotics competitions, has given numerous invited presentations in research organizations in several countries, has served on program committees of premier robotics, automation, and control conferences, and on numerous national and international panels. He currently serves as the Vice President of the Industrial Activities Board, Chair of the Standing Committee for Standards Activities, and Chair of the Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT) within the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. He received his Ph.D. in Field Robotics from the University of Sydney, and an ME (Research) in Systems Engineering from the Australian National University. More details are available from .

 


Roger Johnson

Founder and CEO, Eidon Foundation

Featured speaker

Title: Thermoelectric solutions for charging cellphones in off-grid locations

Biographical notes: After a childhood spent in the jungles of Ecuador, Roger Johnson was educated in the United States, and holds a degree in Engineering and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Minnesota. From 1988 to 2010, Roger was Founder and President of Radiant Optics, Inc. – a successful commercial enterprise that marketed a radiant heat system based on a biomimicry patent in optics – a system widely used by Home Depot.In addition to patents granted Roger related to radiant heating, he has patents pending in connection with the Kinetic Response Helmet (KRH). Roger is a founding member of Eidon LLC and its creative lead. He expects that the KRH will be the first of many biomimetic projects undertaken by Eidon.


Ryan Bank

Founder and CEO, Social Intelligence Inc

Featured Speaker, Panelist

Title: Social Intelligence Gathering for Disaster Response

Ryan BankAbstract:  Unlike ever before, those responding to various disasters have unprecedented access to vital data and digital resources. Stemming from the 2010 Haiti Earthquake, Ryan Bank, founder of Social Intelligence Corp and advisor to the US Coast Guard, built a system that was able to locate the position of survivors trapped in the rubble of the earthquake using their ability to post to social networks. Similar systems have also been deployed to major events such as the BP Oil Spill, Japan Tsunami and G8 and NATO Summits. Bank will show how almost any organization can use social data and emerging technology to boost situational awareness, find those in distress and determine threats against people and infrastructure.

Biographical notes: Ryan Bank is an Emerging Technology Expert and Innovation Evangelist. Bank is the Founder of Social Intelligence Corporation, a start-up company that enables governments and corporate clients to gather Social and Open Source Intelligence. Besides advising governments and corporations on the use of Emerging Technology, Bank is also a featured speaker both nationally and internationally on the organizational value of Innovation.

Ryan Bank developed a system — deployed by the US Coast Guard – that used social media monitoring to find survivors after the 2010 Haiti earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Based on an extensive set of tools — including the remarkable work of several NGOs and Private Volunteer Organizations — he was able to monitor hundreds of thousands of messages coming from Haiti, looking for those that needed immediate rescue. Upon receiving distress messages, Bank worked with military responders to coordinate message traffic with information from other sources. Ultimately, this intelligence would be passed to commanders in the field and rescue teams were launched to the location.

Bank is a graduate of Northwestern University, and lives in Chicago.


Stan Mierzwa

Director of Information Technology, Population Council

Panelist

Title: Culturally Relevant and Usable Innovation and TechnologyStanMierzwa

Biographical notes: Stanley Mierzwa is the director of information technology (IT) at the Population Council, where he sets global technology strategy and direction for the Council’s 21 offices and oversees all computer-related activities at the Council’s three offices in the United States. Mierzwa also leads the technical effort in software design, development, and management of the Council’s proprietary audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) survey software, which has been used in numerous field and clinic-based product surveys to facilitate accurate reporting of sensitive behaviors. His “on the ground” implementation experience has taken place in Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, India, Brazil and the United States.Mierzwa previously worked at the Council as senior systems engineer, then as supervisor of computer operations.


Tala de los Santos

Diagnostic Group Leader, PATHTaladelosSantos262-small

Keynote speaker

Title: challenges of developing medical diagnostics for low resource settings

Biographical notes: Tala de los Santos is the Diagnostic Group Leader at PATH, an international nonprofit organization that transforms global health though innovation. Ms. de los Santos leads a group of scientists, public health specialists, and business strategists focused on developing and introducing appropriate, affordable, and high-impact diagnostic tests for use in low-resource health facilities all over the world. PATH’s diagnostics portfolio includes innovative diagnostic technologies for HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, and non-communicable diseases.

Ms. de los Santos brings more than ten years of experience managing technology development and commercialization in public-private partnerships. She has been extensively involved in the each step of the product life cycle including developing market and product requirements during the early feasibility phase, collaborating with R&D to ensure fidelity to the target product profile and timely product launch, and managing supply-chain logistics. Ms. de los Santos holds an MS in human genetics from Stanford University, an MBA from Seattle University, and a BA in biological sciences from Mount Holyoke College.

For more information about Ms. de los Santos’s work go to: http://sites.path.org/dx/


Thomson Nguyen

Founder and CEO, Framed DataThomsonNguyen

Keynote speaker

Title: Data Science for Good: How We Use Engineering and Machine Learning to Affect Societal Change

Abstract:The Harvard Business Review calls the modern Data Scientist “the Sexiest Job of the 21st Century.” The advent of a number of technologies, methods, and processes to filter, mine, and represent large amounts of data have given us the unique ability to intuit real insight from aggregate chaos. And yet, “the best minds of [our] generation are thinking about how to make people click ads.” Never has there ever been a more prudent time to use our abilities in machine learning and information processing to affect positive change in society. This talk will cover examples of men and women who use data science for good: in for-profit corporations that align corporate social responsibility with collective action in non-profit organizations that seek to implement lasting technical and infrastructural solutions for municipal governments, and NGOs that use data to apply evidence-based policies to reach millennium development goals.

Biographical notes: Thomson Nguyen is the co-founder and CEO at Framed Data, where he works on various data problems in analytics, infrastructure, and machine learning for non-profits, NGOs, and businesses. He is also a visiting scholar at the Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences at NYU, researching malware diffusion in social networks. He was the first data scientist at Causes, the world’s largest online campaigning platform that seeks to facilitate collective action by linking online support with offline action.

Thomson is also a mentor at Code for America, a non-partisan, non-political non-profit organization that partners engineers and designers with local governments to create lasting solutions to policy, technology, and infrastructural problems. He studied Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, and Computational Biology at the University of Cambridge.


Tyde Richards

Chair, IEEE Actionable Data Book Project and IEEE Learning Technology Standards

Tyde Richards smallWorkshop Facilitator

Biographical notes: Tyde Richards is Chair of the IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee and the IEEE Actionable Data Book project. He has over 25 years experience in the field of technology-supported learning, primarily focused on the intersection of advanced technology and interoperability. Chronologically, he lead a curricular software development team at USC, prototyped future learning technologies at Apple, developed standards policies at Macromedia, represented IBM globally on learning technology standards, and was a consultant to the U.S. Government’s Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative (ADL). He was a key technical contributor to the ADL Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), chaired the related IEEE standardization effort, and represented ADL in progressing SCORM through ISO-IEC. He holds a BA in European History, an MS in Computer Science, and in his spare time pursues Chen style Taijiquan and historical fencing.


Tyler Valiquette

COO, Catapult DesignTylerValiquette

Keynote speaker

Title: A Design Perspective on Engineering for Development: Get to Know your Users

Biographical notes: Having lived, worked, and traveled extensively in Latin America in his mid-twenties, Tyler returned to the United States in 2005 determined to devote the rest of his career to tackling the problems of human inequality and environmental degradation that had played such a major role in his travels. In 2007 he joined Engineers Without Borders and became very active in the San Francisco Professionals Chapter, particularly the Appropriate Technology Design Team where he led the development of a small wind turbine for rural Guatemala. Inspired by the role that technology can play in addressing social injustice and the ongoing global environmental crisis, he was one of the founders of Catapult Design in San Francisco, a firm using design and engineering to alleviate poverty within disadvantaged communities. Tyler has worked both as an industrial mechanical engineer for Chevron and as a project manager for a premier commercial construction company in San Francisco. He has his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Idaho.


V K Damodaran

Featured speaker

Title: Empowering Off-grid Rural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa Using Wind, Water, Sunshine and Wastes

Abstract: Providing modern energy to rural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa is a daunting challenge, and to find a solution, UNIDO developed a program initially in Kenya in 2007 as ‘Lighting up Kenya’, using only locally available renewable energy sources, to replace kerosene with LED lamps for lighting, introduce computers and internet, and also apply electricity for productive applications creating employment, in rural areas, yet making the transformation affordable for the poor. The model has since been replicated in Tanzania, Uganda and other countries in Africa. The author has been a Consultant to UNIDO and UNEP in evolving this model, under which the villagers can run the project and replicate easily. A photo presentation of the model projects is intended.

Biographical notes: Prof. V. K. Damodaran, Life Senior Member of IEEE from Kerala Section, India, is currently the Director General and Managing Trustee of the international NGO called INGCORE, promoting worldwide the use of renewable energy; Chairman of Centre for Environment and Development, India, and a long time free lance International Energy Consultant to United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the UN Environmental Programme in Africa. He was recently awarded the 2012 Asia Pacific Historical Achievement Award by IEEE Region 10 for his innovative work to provide energy services to many remote rural areas in Africa, using only locally available renewable energy resources like sunshine, wind, water and wastes. He also worked in China from 2001 to 2005 as the Managing Director of the International Centre on Small Hydro Power.

He served Kerala teaching at NIT Calicut, as Asst. Director of State Institute of Languages, Premier Director of Science, Technology and Environment, Founder Director of Energy Management Centre and as President of the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (Science Writers’ Forum) when it launched the campaign to protect the bio-diversity in Silent Valley and got a hydroelectric project work dropped.

He is author, co-author and Editor of several books and journals for over 40 years and uses Radio and TV frequently for science communication. He is also the Chairman of an empowerment centre for the Blind in India.


Willow Brugh

Program Director, Geeks Without BoundsWillow Brugh

Keynote speaker

Title: Innovating in Times of Disaster

Biographical notes: Willow is an organic chat client, spanning a multitude of subcultures and putting like-minded (but differently disciplined) peopleWillow Brugh in touch. This has led to a passion for hacker and maker spaces as places for education and indicators of resiliency in disaster. These places must be nurtured and pushed forward, to take a lead role in creating engaged citizens to take us into the future. She co-founded of Jigsaw Renaissance, a learning and making community in Seattle; co-founded and past director of Space Federation, linking together hacker and maker spaces; and currently direct Geeks Without Bounds, an accelerator for humanitarian projects. In 2013, Willow embark on a new adventure as a research affiliate at Center for Civic Media out of MIT.