#alumni – Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity

August 9, 2021February 16, 2022

STEM Up Phase II Goes to Tintinto, The Gambia

Phase II of STEM Up continues to evolve, featuring a Wi-Fi-generating computer cart to be used in combination with the solar power being produced at Tintinto Primary and Secondary School in The Gambia. Wilkie Stevenson, an alumnus of SMU Lyle School of Engineering, spent the majority of his college employment as an Undergraduate Research Analyst for the Hunt Institute where he worked on various projects, such as STEM Up, that are designed to support rural access to digital education in communities around the world. Early on in Mohammed Njie’s project research for Illuminating Tintinto, he and Wilkie began to discuss the potential of their two projects collaborating, with STEM Up going to The Gambia to be tested.

September 24, 2021, we welcomed a multi-disciplinary and multi-national audience for a demonstration of the STEM Up Phase II prototype on its way to The Gambia to be beta tested. Joining us for the demonstration was Haddijatou Lamin Njie, an International Development Expert with over 25 years of working with government, multilateral organizations, and international non-government organizations (NGOs) in The Gambia.

Ms. Lamin Njie responded to the demo with, “For me, this prototype opens doors. It is a huge entry point with so much possibility to build on and contextualize.” Considering Ms. Lamin Njie’s proven track record of leading and evaluating development programs, her words offered humbling confirmation that the STEM Up Phase II project is on the right track towards making an impact.

Wilkie graduated in 2020 amidst the global pandemic. After graduation, he continued to work on the STEM Up concept, designing a unit that will broadcast digital educational resources over Wi-Fi. Using the solar power produced at Tintinto Primary and Secondary School, the theory is to utilize low-cost and low-power servers, along with refurbished laptops, to outfit a computer lab. The Wi-Fi generated by the computer cart can also be used by other devices in addition to the supplied computers. With no internet connection in Tintinto, the STEM Up team decided to create a unique solution. Instead of attempting to provide internet to remote schools, they took the approach of downloading vast amounts of open source educational media and creating a static, offline version of the internet. This allows for a variety of educational media and digital materials to be accessible by any device connected to the open WiFi network, without internet connection. With years of pre downloaded educational media, this system will not only bridge the digital divide but will also teach computer literacy so that communities are prepared to take full advantage of the internet once they are connected. Open source materials include Wikipedia, Khan Academy, Crash Course, and Ted Talks, along with open-source K-12 educational resources. In addition, the hard drive contains the entire Project Gutenberg (one million books), WikiEM, and much more.

This redesign is the essence of STEM Up Phase II. It is essentially a computer cart functioning as a starter kit for a computer lab. The school was designed with a computer lab, but it has sat empty since its completion. The teachers and students in Tintinto Primary and Secondary School have agreed to beta test the concept and provide invaluable feedback. The goal is for teachers to be able to curate and preload materials, media, and interactive games to augment their curriculum, as they introduce computers and digital learning materials to the classroom experience.

According to Statista, “The lack of digital skills concerns a large share of the African population. In 2019, the adoption rate of digital skills stood at only 10 percent in Mozambique and 23 percent in Côte d’Ivoire, meaning that most of the people were not able to use digital devices and applications, nor access the internet.” Rural areas in Africa are lagging behind the development of urban areas due to many factors, with a major one being infrastructure which dramatically affects the level of education that teachers are able to provide their students. In recent years, the development community has started identifying the Global North vs. the Global South based on indicators like access to education and technology. In The Gambia, a West African country surrounded by Senegal, just 48% of people have moderate, yet sometimes unreliable, access to electricity (typically in urban areas) and the remaining 52% have no access (typically remote rural areas). Solar energy and distributed generation are transforming rural communities. Organizations like Barefoot College and Janta, Mohammed’s social enterprise, seek to mitigate this lag with distributed generation that individuals and communities own. With this research, we hope to take it one step further and add access to a computer lab for rural schools.

Mohammed and Wilkie plan to travel to Tintinto village to train the teachers on the computers and to test the system’s tolerance for the conditions at the school. Risk management is an important piece of the project design, with factors such as dust, heat, moisture, and environmental conditions being considered. Technical limitations like battery life and hours of daylight for recharging after school are all variables that are also being considered in the planning stage.

Stay tuned to the Hunt Institute Digest to watch this project unfold.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

May 13, 2021February 28, 2022

Hunt Institute Senior Tribute Spring 2021

Each year in the month of May, there is the bittersweet turnover that is a result of having a team of student workers. We cheer for students completing their education at Southern Methodist University and at the same time, wipe away a tear watching them leave.

I personally cannot help but reflect on each senior’s time at the Hunt Institute with nostalgia; I remember their training, watching each one grow in their own talents, and celebrating their breakthroughs in projects, processes, and academic challenges. At the same time, though, I am comforted by the introduction of new team members capable and ready to receive the baton and run the race.

As is tradition, we are thrilled to showcase some of our graduating team members through a Senior Tribute video. As we have done with many of our traditions, we have adapted this video to represent both our distance and in-person team members. We invite you to watch the video above to meet some of our graduating team members and hear their takeaways from their time at the Institute.

Impressively, most student workers in the Institute are leaders in student organizations, honors program members, recipients of scholarships with strict academic requirements, and/or volunteers in their community and on campus at SMU. Honestly, sometimes I do not know how they do all this while maintaining such good grades and producing such quality work in the Institute. They are ranked in the best of the best all-around students at SMU in my eyes.

In the almost five years I have run the Institute’s program, it has grown and improved because of the input and perspective of each team member. We are interdisciplinary in nature. 20% of our students have majors in Dedman, 30% in Lyle, 13% in Meadows, and 9% in Cox, while 28% have majors across multiple schools. In addition, 41% of our student workers have two or more majors. 22% of our students are masters level, while the remaining 78% are undergraduates. This combination creates a unique opportunity for growth in each student in their perspectives and interpersonal skills.

Over the years, we have tested many new ideas; some worked, and some did not. I always remind the over-achievers that failure is part of what innovation is all about. For most of us, that is hard to handle. You beta test things on a small scale and keep looking until you find the right solution to the given challenge. It very rarely is the first thing you try. Our successes are the result of all the failed attempts. Speaking of learning, I learn more from them than they do from me on many occasions. Reverse mentoring is a common practice in the Institute!

One of my favorite things is when seniors tell me they accepted an offer of employment. We jump up and down cheering, telling all the other team members the great news! Everyone joins in the celebration. We laugh, we cheer, we clap, and affirm them that this is the fruit of years of labor. I usually say, “Of course they chose you, you are exactly what they are looking for!” and I mean it. This does not just happen overnight, certainly not just because they got lucky. Each one earned their offer.

I end this note congratulating our seniors for finishing strong while facing many challenges along the way. Seniors, based on the legacy you leave behind in our Institute, you all are truly world changers. We are grateful for each of you and your contribution to the work of the Hunt Institute while you studied at SMU.

Congratulations and welcome to the alumni family! #PonyUp – Corrie A. Harris

JuliaGrace Walker contributed to the graphic.

Read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems here. We invite you to listen Join us for ImpactNights® or listen to our podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the Institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our weekly update by emailing your contact information to huntinstitute@smu.edu.

December 15, 2020February 28, 2022

Women Artisans and the Case for Handicrafts

The Case for Homemade by Silvia Rivera '18, SMU and Hunt Institute Alumni

As more and more social entrepreneurs show up in industry, both non-profit and for-profit, there is increasing overlap between the initiatives of the Social Enterprise and the Global Development Lab. While this integration will be a primary focus for the Hunt Institute in 2021, the overlap between entrepreneurship and innovation has been evident in past Institute projects, too, such as a report on the international handicrafts industry by Silvia Rivera ’18.

Rivera moved with her family from Chiapas, Mexico as a child. With this perspective, she has always been passionate about breaking down complex issues to empower underrepresented individuals. During her college journey at SMU, Rivera was immersed in exploring handicrafts and artisanal goods. She soon joined the Hunt Institute as an undergraduate researcher mentored by the Executive Director Dr. Eva Csaky. At the end of her senior year, Rivera’s findings lead her to conclude that handicrafts, “have a significant potential for social impact, both in terms of the income they generate and the cultural traditions they help preserve.”

Her research questions searched for a connection point to link local artisans with the global supply chain. Shortly before completing her work at SMU, Rivera journeyed to Washington D.C. for The Creative Economy Matters conference, which had a lasting impact on her. She produced a report titled “The Case for Handmade,” exploring the global artisan sector, its potential for impact, and both the challenges and opportunities involved in realizing this potential.

Foundational to inclusive economic development is the IE Model for entrepreneurs, corporations, and enablers developed by Dr. Csaky (see Applied IE Model below).

Applied Inclusive Economy Model, Dr. Eva Csaky — Model by Dr. Eva Csaky, Executive Director of the Hunter & Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity

This model led Rivera to search for the multi-stakeholders, global forces, and the opportunity for inclusive growth to local economies. The abstract of her report states, “From the definition of artisanal activity, to its importance for poverty alleviation, to the various challenges and opportunities faced by artisans, businesses, and other sector stakeholders, this report concludes with a brief case-study of the DFW market for artisanal goods, attempting to put to the test ideas set forth herein on the global artisan sector and the key opportunities that may point the way forward.”

According to Rivera’s report, handicrafts are an essential source of secondary income. About 80% of artisans are women globally, and the handicraft industry was worth $32 billion in 2018. Because it is not capital intensive, the barriers to entry are low. Typically speaking, women reinvest 90% of earnings into their family and train other women, passing down their skills and knowledge. Her research found that these women were quite resourceful, using existing resources and materials to enhance the uniqueness of their handicrafts.

Rivera says, “But the potential for impact doesn’t stop there, like I mentioned earlier there are other cultural aspects to handmade goods that make them more than the sum of their parts, and part of that is that often that they are made by marginalized ethnic minorities using (again often but not always) traditionally environmentally friendly methods. This part of their potential needs more research and attention but does pop up in the literature.”

Women artisans help to support education, healthcare, and housing for themselves and their families. The industry serves as an important source of diversification, especially as climate change negatively affects rural agriculture. Challenges facing artisan women are well documented, country-specific, and difficult to overcome with a one-size-fits-all solution. Primary challenges include informality, aggregation, access to information, and access to finance. Finding opportunities to overcome these challenges is where the social impact space can help the most, investigating global connection points to consumer, entrepreneurial, and corporate trends for artisan groups.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

December 1, 2020February 28, 2022

Controlled Environment Agriculture Technologies

After working at the Hunt Institute over the summer of 2017, Adrienn Santa decided to continue her research in controlled environment agriculture in an attempt to help address the issue of food deserts in urban areas like South Dallas. Adrienn grew up on a family farm in Hungary. She expressed her surprise when she discovered how difficult it was to find fresh food in urban areas and deep sadness at the reality of food deserts in one of the most prosperous countries in the world.

The video in this post explains her passion and vision for high-tech, small, urban greenhouses to help mitigate extreme climates in order to bring fresh fruits and vegetables closer to the consumer.

In the Fall of 2017, Adrienn recruited a team and together they began their senior design project monitoring Evie, the mobile greenhouse. As shown in the images, Evie was invited to the Science Place at the State Fair of Texas. Adrienn led her team as they installed sensors to read temperature and humidity in the small mobile greenhouse during the length of the State Fair.

Santa said, “My main goal is to be able to apply my educational and life experiences to this research and to contribute to finding a solution to this pressing global problem of food deserts found in low-income communities.”

Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is a technology-based food system used in large high-tech greenhouses for the purpose of controlling the temperature, humidity, airflow, and light in the building. With a greenhouse, the growing season can be expanded to be year-round if the inside conditions are controlled properly according to the requirements of the plants. With CEA, technology can assist the growers and reduce both the number of people and the amount of time needed to monitor and care for the plants. In the case of Evie, where the space available to grow is small, there are no low-cost solutions to grow food efficiently in small urban spaces as of the writing of this post. Combined with vertical gardening, technologies like hydroponics and grow lighting CEA can help to address food production issues anywhere from the most remote rural areas to urban areas.

The best possible orientation and structures of a greenhouse, heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, and glazing as well as insulation materials are discussed in Adrienn’s report. Adrienn says, “Results show that the most efficient and sustainable technologies are currently more expensive initially than the other ones. Due to this fact, most of the time small urban farmers are not able to afford sustainable and energy-efficient technologies.”

The findings of her report Controlled Environment Agriculture Technologies, the team’s research, and their observations of Evie’s sensor readings were that Evie was too small for CEA technology. This led her to conclude that CEA technology needed to evolve in order for it to be useful and affordable for small-scale farming operations.

Adrienn Santa graduated SMU in 2018, and she married one of her teammates Osama and is now Adrienn Alolabi-Santa. She and her husband live in Austria where she is pursuing a Masters in Sustainable Energy Systems at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria.

To read more about Hunter & Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate to the work, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

January 27, 2020March 2, 2022

Kelsey Shipman ’20

Kelsey Shipman graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.S. in Economics, Public Policy, and World Languages (Spanish and Arabic) with minors in Math, Computer Science, History, Human Rights, and Public Policy & International Affairs. She was also a member of the O’Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom Reading Group, the Engaged Learning Advisory Committee, Honors Research Association, Delta Delta Delta Sorority, and previously affiliated with the SMU Student Senate and SMU Honor Council.

Kelsey has been recognized as a President’s Scholar, Tower Scholar, Richter Undergraduate Research Fellow, and Mayer Interdisciplinary Research Fellow, including membership in Phi Beta Kappa honor society and the Hyer Honor Society. At the Hunt Institute, she was an undergraduate Research Analyst lending her skills in research to several interdisciplinary projects.

After completing her undergraduate studies at SMU, Kelsey is currently working as a Senior Research Assistant at the Federal Reserve Board.

December 3, 2019March 2, 2022

Javier Destarac ’20

Javier A. Destarac graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.A. in Markets and Cultures.

Javier was born in McAllen, Texas but grew up in Tyler, Texas to a multicultural family speaking Spanish at home and English in school. He enjoys learning from new cultures and helping others. Javier has experience in working in marketing over this past summer in his most recent internship, doing research in digital media at NYU.

Javier worked with the communications team to develop and market Impact Nights as well as the marketing strategy of the Hunt Institute. In the future, he hopes to translate his work in the Hunt Institute to a career in Marketing while continuing to spread awareness for sustainability across all platforms. Javier also would like to continue his hobbies of playing tennis, playing the piano, volunteering.

September 16, 2019March 23, 2022

Lillie Noe ’20, Hunt Institute Associate

Lillie Noe ’20, joins the Hunt Institute as an Associate, bringing with her a passion for providing quality heath care and advocating for sustainable apparel.

Lillie Noe is a Program Manager for Professional Membership with the American Heart Association. She works with healthcare professionals advancing the AHA’s mission to improve cardiovascular health for all, including identifying and removing barriers to health care access and quality.

Lillie received her MBA in 2020 from SMU’s Cox School of Business, where she concentrated in Strategy. While at SMU, Lillie served as the Hunt Institute’s Program Manager for Social Enterprise, launching the Institute’s first cohort of social entrepreneurs. She also led SMU’s chapter of Net Impact where she organized volunteer opportunities and speaking events to help MBA students use their skills on behalf of the Dallas community.

Before her MBA, Lillie worked in the apparel industry and had a particular interest in sustainable and local production. She worked for a bridal and evening gown designer manufacturer in Dallas and, as an MBA student, interned for Eileen Fisher, an industry leader in sustainable apparel. Lillie holds a B.A. in Plan II Honors and a B.S. in Textiles and Apparel from the University of Texas at Austin.

Lillie previously explained her interest in sustainable apparel, saying, “In my undergraduate studies, I was struck by the amount of environmental waste and human harm unleashed by the apparel industry as a matter of routine. I believe that we have to use business to promote more than just profit if we are to have an equitable and sustainable future.”

March 6, 2019March 2, 2022

Cole DeYoung ’20

Cole DeYoung

Class of 2020

Undergraduate Program Manager

Engineering Management, Information and Systems major

Economics Minor

SMU Discovery Scholarship

Founders Scholarship

INFORMS VP of Finance

“I love my major and that it challenges me and I know that what I’ve learned at SMU and through my work experience will enable me to do something great, but that won’t matter to me if I’m not passionate about the work I am doing. What inspires me, what feeds my soul, is working with people. I am lucky I found the Hunt Institute because I finally get to apply the technical business side of me to something that I am deeply passionate about.”

Cole DeYoung graduated from Southern Methodist University studying Engineering Management, Information and Systems and Economics. She served as the VP of Finance for the SMU chapter of INFORMS and as a Project Manager here at the Hunt Institute.

Cole’s EMIS major teaches math and computer science skills, optimization techniques and business principles. She uses this breadth of skills in her various work experiences. Cole worked as a Reliability Engineering Intern for Abbott Nutrition her freshman year, as a Business Excellence Intern for Abbott Diagnostics her sophomore year and will be working for a Management Consulting firm in New York City this summer.

It is Cole’s lifelong passion for helping others that brought her to the Hunt Institute.

“It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.” ― Leo Buscaglia

February 25, 2019March 2, 2022

Jaclyn Soria ’20

SMU Class of 2020

Journalism and Spanish major

Advertising minor

Jaclyn graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.A. in Journalism and Spanish and minor in Advertising. As a Miami native, Jaclyn enjoys being immersed in different cultures and has participated in study abroad programs in countries like Spain and the United Kingdom.

Like the Hunt Institute itself, Jaclyn is committed to fostering a world to better the human condition and has realized this goal with her work at the institute. She believes that innovation, together with the written word, gives the Hunt Institute the means to create a better tomorrow.

As the previous VP Recruitment of the Iota Sigma chapter of Alpha Chi Omega, Jaclyn was very involved in various committees for her sorority. After completing her undergraduate studies at SMU, she is currently working as a Copywriter at Miami Advertising School.

February 4, 2019March 7, 2022

Kelly Little ’19

Class of 2019

Research Analyst

Major: Health and Society

Minor: Biology

Second Century Scholar and Honor Roll

Kelly Little graduated from SMU majoring in Health and Society and minoring in Biology. She was a recipient of the Second Century Scholarship at SMU.

Kelly has worked as a medical assistant in a top New York Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery office for the past two summers. She was also a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and was the 2018 Philanthropy Chair of the Gamma Phi Chapter at SMU. As the Philanthropy Chair, Kelly established a brand-new fundraising event that doubled the amount of money raised by the Chapter, when compared to the previous year. She organized over 10 different volunteer and fundraising events for the Gamma Phi Chapter and partnered with foundations such as the Akola Project and Reading is Fundamental.

At the Hunt Institute, Kelly worked as a Research Analyst on various projects. Her research interests are public health, nutrition, sustainability, and underserved populations both globally and locally.

After graduating from SMU, Kelly is currently attending Pace University’s Lenox Hill Hospital Physician Assistant Studies Program.