Engineering for Change (E4C) is an online platform and international community of engineers, scientists, non-governmental organizations, local community advocates and other innovators working to solve global development problems. The organization's founding partners are the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via " continuing ...

, the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

, and

Engineers Without Borders The term Engineers Without Borders (EWB; french: Ingénieurs sans frontières, ISF) is used by a number of non-governmental organizations in various countries to describe their activity based on engineering and oriented to international development ...

USA. It is now under the umbrella of ASME's Engineering for Global Development program. Collaborators include

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...

Stiftung, The Level Market,

Autodesk Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that makes software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquartere ...

Foundation,

Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves The Clean Cooking Alliance, formerly the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, is a non-profit organization operating with the support of the United Nations Foundation to promote clean cooking technologies in lower and middle-income countries. ...

, CAWST, WFEO,

ITU The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Union ...

Institute of Food Technologists The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is an international, non-profit scientific society of professionals engaged in food science, food technology, and related areas in academia, government and industry. It has more than 17,000 members from ...

, and United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth. E4C facilitates the development of affordable, locally appropriate and sustainable solutions to the most pressing humanitarian challenges and shares them freely online as a form of open source appropriate technology. Members of the E4C community use the platform's online tools to share knowledge, research global development issues, products and services and deepen their professional development. The organization provides services through seven channels: *The Solutions Library, a database of products that meet basic needs *Monthly webinars and academic seminars *Research Fellowship *News and analysis *Research in collaboration with external partners *Online courses in global development engineering and design *Jobs and volunteer opportunities board Information about products and services fall into eight categories on the organization's Web site, and they can include big infrastructural projects such as community water purification and bridge building, or smaller, personal technologies such as bicycle-powered electricity generators and cellphone applications for healthcare.

History

In 2009, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers created a website to pull together the disparate sources of information on appropriate technology and solutions in global development. The site aggregated information, hosted a library of often little-known technologies, and offered tools to enable collaboration among development teams worldwide. Throughout 2010, the site operated in alpha and then beta with a mostly closed group of users. A public site, at engineeringforchange.info, mirrored some of the content on the test site, but without all of its functionality. IEEE and EWB-USA signed on as partners in time for the public launch on January 4, 2011. At present, the organization has more than 45,000 members and a social media following of more than one million.

Solutions Library

The Solutions Library is a database of hundreds of products and services that meet basic needs in underserved communities. Entries are investigated and posted by the organization's staff and research fellows working remotely from home offices worldwide. The information on each entry is standardized to allow users to compare similar products to facilitate research and decision-making.

Education

Education is an important part of Engineering for Change. The Web site provides educational materials on how to design and implement solutions, and an archive of relevant academic programs. Two free teach principles of engineering for global development, and the website compiles academic programs, books and other professional development resources.

References

External links

Official website

"A Design Tool Whose Time Has Come"
- NextBillion
Innovative Banana Leaf Sanitary Pads Hit a Design Snag
- Good.is {{Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers American engineering organizations American Society of Mechanical Engineers Appropriate technology organizations Charities based in New York City Development charities based in the United States Engineering organizations Engineers Without Borders Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Mechanical engineering organizations Organizations established in 2009

History

Solutions Library

Education

See also

References

External links