D-Lab is a design studio course in which students work on international development projects for under served communities. The class is focused on a participatory, iterative prototyping design process, with particular attention on the constraints faced when designing for developing communities. Students work in multidisciplinary teams on term-long projects in collaboration with community partners, field practitioners, and experts in relevant fields. Students will learn about their partner communities through the collaborative design process and be exposed to many hands-on fabrication and prototyping skills relevant to development at MIT and manufacturing in their partner community. The course will consist of hands-on labs, guest speakers, and a guided design process with review by experts and professionals in development and design.
This course focuses on Third World development using case studies and team collaboration. Students draw lessons from success stories and identify challenges, unintended consequences and failures in implementing technologies, projects and policies. Students acquire skills in the building of partnerships and learn how to pilot, implement, and scale-up a selected innovation for the common good. Teams develop an idea, project or business plan that is ready to roll by semester's end.
D-Lab: Energy offers a hands-on, project-based approach that engages students in understanding and addressing the applications of small-scale, sustainable energy technology in developing countries where compact, robust, low-cost systems for generating power are required. Projects may include micro-hydro, solar, or wind turbine generators along with theoretical analysis, design, prototype construction, evaluation and implementation. Students will have the opportunity both to travel to Nicaragua during spring break to identify and implement projects. D-Lab: Energy is part of MIT's D-Lab program, which fosters the development of appropriate technologies and sustainable solutions within the framework of international development.
D-Lab Health provides a multidisciplinary approach to global health technology design via guest lectures and a major project based on fieldwork. We will explore the current state of global health challenges and learn how to design medical technologies that address those problems. Students may travel to Nicaragua during spring break to work with health professionals, using medical technology design kits to gain field experience for their device challenge. As a final class deliverable, you will create a product design solution to address challenges observed in the field. The resulting designs are prototyped in the summer for continued evaluation and testing.
Recent years have seen an astonishing spread of democracy to many Asian, African, and Latin American countries. Subject explores the causes of these dramatic political transitions; the challenges democratizing countries in the developing world face; and the question of whether these new democracies will endure. Subject explores these questions using film, fiction, popular journalism, and scholarly research as a basis for discussion. Focus on a small number of countries (Brazil, Mexico, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, and Senegal) allows exploration of relevant topics in greater depth.
Innovation in global health practice requires leaders who are trained to think and act like entrepreneurs. Whether at a hospital bedside or in a remote village, global healthcare leaders must understand both the business of running a social venture as well as how to plan for and provide access to life saving medicines and essential health services. Each week, the course features a lecture and skills-based tutorial session led by industry, non-profit foundation, technology, and academic leaders to think outside the box in tackling and solving problems in innovation for global health practice through the rationale design of technology and service solutions. The lectures provide the foundation for faculty-mentored pilot project from MOH, students, or non-profit sponsors that may involve creation of a market or business plan, product development, or a research study design.
Leslie Dodson's research focuses on the intersection of micro-enterprise and digital technologies in developing communities. She brings more than 25 years of experience and insight from a career as a broadcast journalist to the academic community. Leslie has been posted to Tokyo, London, New York and throughout Latin America, where she covered high-tech and bio-tech for CNBC and MSNBC, and international finance and the global emerging markets for CNN, NHK-Tokyo and Reuters. Along with covering international business, Leslie has reported on environmental issues from the Arctic, India, Nepal, Ecuador, Burundi and Uganda. A quiz, thought provoking question, and links for further study are provided to create a lesson around the 21-minute video. Educators may use the platform to easily "Flip" or create their own lesson for use with their students of any age or level.
D-Lab World Prosthetics is a collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Jaipur Foot Organization to improve the design, manufacture, and distribution of rehabilitation devices in the developing world. The course welcomes individuals interested in physical rehabilitation to work on multidisciplinary teams of students with bioengineering, mechanical engineering, material science, and medical or pre-medical backgrounds. Students will learn about the basics of human walking, different types of gait disabilities, as well as the technologies that seek to address those disabilities. Patient perspectives and current research areas are presented. Lecture topics focus on lower-limb disabilities, including polio and above-knee and below-knee amputation, and will cover both developed and developing world techniques for overcoming these disabilities. Students form teams to design and prototype low-cost orthotic and prosthetic devices, and present their work at the end of the course.
The concept of globalization fosters the understanding of the interconnectedness of cultures and societies geographically wide apart; America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Subject scans existing debates over globalization in four continents. Explores how globalization impacts everyday life in the First and Third World; how globalization leads to a common cosmopolitan culture; the emergence of a global youth culture; and religious, social, and political movements that challenge globalization. Materials examined include pop music, advertisements, film posters, and political cartoons. Topic for Spring 2003: Popular Culture in Japan. Taught in English.
"According to the United States Agency for International Development, 20 million people in developing countries require wheelchairs, and the United Nations Development Programme estimates below 1% of their need is being met in Africa by local production. Wheelchair Design in Developing Countries (WDDC) gives students the chance to better the lives of others by improving wheelchairs and tricycles made in the developing world. Lectures will focus on understanding local factors, such as operating environments, social stigmas against the disabled, and manufacturing constraints, and then applying sound scientific/engineering knowledge to develop appropriate technical solutions. Multidisciplinary student teams will conduct term-long projects on topics such as hardware design, manufacturing optimization, biomechanics modeling, and business plan development. Theory will further be connected to real-world implementation during guest lectures by MIT faculty, Third-World community partners, and U.S. wheelchair organizations. This class is made possible by an MIT Alumni Sponsored Funding Opportunities grant with additional support from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, the MIT Public Service Center, and the MIT Edgerton Center; special thanks to CustomInk.com."
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