Hunt Institute SMU LYLE for Engineering and Humanity Southern Methodist University Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity – Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity

March 4, 2022March 8, 2022

Kathy Hubbard, Hunt Institute Fellow

Kathy Hubbard is the Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Southern Methodist University’s (SMU) Lyle School of Engineering. Kathy leads the school’s effort to develop the 21st Century Engineer, this engineer is representative of global diversity. She leads the school’s effort to increase the number of students representing traditionally minoritized groups pursuing engineering and computer science degrees. These efforts include recruiting and retention strategies of under-represented students and improving diversity within the school’s faculty ranks. She is also responsible for internal equitable and inclusive policies and practices.

Kathy sits on several university-wide committees, and she is the Advisor for the Lyle school’s National Society of Black of Engineers, Society of Hispanic Engineers, and the Society of Women Engineers student organizations. She is a certified executive coach and has worked with executives and managers from DART, Texas Instruments, and other organizations. Kathy has also worked with the Center for Creative Leadership to develop youth and early career leadership development programs.

When asked about her motivation for doing impact work she answered, “I believe we are all here to leave the spaces and places that we are privileged to occupy better than we found them. If I do that, then I have made an impact.”

Kathy is passionate about closing the education achievement gap. In addition to her duties at SMU, she is an Alumni Fellow with LeadershipISD, an education equity advocacy group. She also serves on the Building Solutions Advisory Board supporting initiatives in DFW school districts and the Maclin Family Foundation Boards that provided access for Black and Hispanic students to institutions like the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. Kathy is the Immediate Past Chairman of the Board of Trustees for St. Philip’s School & Community Center in South Dallas. In this role, she leads strategic initiatives and helps build the organization’s endowment and annual fund.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Masters in Education Leadership & Policy from the Simmons School of Education at SMU. Kathy is married to Michael Hubbard and is mother of two wonderful sons, Michael and Elijah.

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. 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

March 4, 2022March 23, 2022

Dr. Michael Adler, Hunt Institute Fellow

Mike Adler, PhD, joins the Hunt Institute as a Fellow, bringing with him his expertise in community engagement with the Puebloan Nations in New Mexico.

Dr. Adler is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University and holds the William Clements Jr. Endowed Executive Director position in the SMU-in-Taos program. His academic training is in archaeology, and his primary research focus is the complex ancestries of Native Americans, particularly Puebloan, communities in the American Southwest. He has also worked overseas in Jordan on early village archaeological contexts. He has a strong interest in the current roles (and sometimes, failures) of archaeology in the creation of knowledge about the past.

He collaborates with Native American communities to investigate concepts of ancestry, cultural identity, and how communities create and recreate that complicated concept called “the past.” He also works with traditional acequia irrigation cooperatives in Northern New Mexico to document their ancestral land and water use systems. He works with his students and colleagues to bring archaeology and knowledge of the past to the public and considers experiential education as one of the most important legacies we can provide to future generations.

When asked what his motivation is for doing impact work he replied, “I would say that I’m privileged to be able to help communities better understand their unique and collective pasts. Every community deserves a past that best reflects their accomplishments and challenges, and to do that one has to listen first to the community needs and interests, and continue listening as the past becomes better understood.”

August 30, 2021February 10, 2022

Waste to Energy Broader Impact Report

Waste to Energy: Harnessing the fuel in organic waste to create a business opportunity for a recycling-based society and system, Harshada Pednekar

In the summer of 2020, Harshada Pednekar, at the time pursuing a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering at SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, was approached by the Institute’s Executive Director, Dr. Eva Csaky, to work on waste to energy research. Amidst the pandemic, Harshada joined the team remotely and immediately hit the ground running on her research, despite the challenges of getting acclimated to a new role without being in-person.

Harshada is passionate about the environment and achieving sustainable business practices while being mindful of the triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit. She had a professional career in India, most notably working as a Design Engineer at Indo-French company Mailhem-Ikos Environment Pvt. Ltd. where she designed portable biogas plants and bio-methanation (UASB Reactor) plants, with capacity ranging from 1000 kg to 100 TPD of municipal solid waste. After graduation, Harshada began work at AECOM in Greenville, South Carolina as a Civil Engineer.

Research on this report went well beyond desk research, as Harshada also examined industry best practices and gained insight from experts in the field. We were fortunate to have excellent industry advisors from the Terra Group at Toyota Motor North America, Inc.; Matthew Sheldon, Hunt Institute Social Intrapreneur; Jason S Sekhon, Fuel Cell and Hydrogen SME; Mark Hitchock, Zero waste, recycling, and the City of Plano Liaison; and Kelli Gregory, NTCOG liaison, clean energy mobility. Faculty advisors included Dr. Eva Csaky, Hunt Institute Executive Director, and Mohammad Khodayar, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Lyle School of Engineering.

Harshada completed her report shortly before graduating, and the final report is titled Waste to Energy: Harnessing the fuel in organic waste to create a business opportunity for a recycling-based society and system.

Included in the report is a quote from President of Toyota Motor Corporation Akio Toyoda, who said, “I believe that our mission is to provide goods and services that make people throughout the world happy, or, in other words to “mass produce” happiness…I view this as also being a part of earnestly engaging in the sustainable development goals.”

The summary states that to generate a feasible amount of methane to support a digester, it is estimated that 10 to 12 tons/d, with 8-10% contamination and 80% of the contamination being bioplastics, can produce about 70 Nm3/h of biogas. This is the amount of biogas needed to produce 200 kg/day of hydrogen, which is the smallest commercially available packaged system. The greenhouse gas emission (GHG) for IngeoTM is currently 1.3 kg CO2 eq./kg polymer compared to approx. 3.2 kg CO2 eq./kg polymer for PET. Therefore, implementing anaerobic digestion for PLA can reduce around 942.5 kg – 1132 kg per day of CO2 equivalent emissions.

A total of 1 ton per day of undigested bioplastic with 30% of total solids will be sent to landfills; 3 tons per day of dewatered digestate cake can be utilized for composting, and Class A fertilizer can be produced. The research on anaerobic degradation of biopolymers is still in its infancy. Therefore, this report has discussed different pre-treatment alternatives to treat PLA such as physical, chemical, and thermal treatments. The findings suggests on-site segregation benefits of the current solid waste management scenario in the commercial sector of Plano, Texas. This report consists of a description of existing scenarios and possible pre-treatment alternatives for bioplastic degradation generated from the commercial sector in hopes of finding a solution good for people, our planet, and that can be a viable and profitable solution for a city like Plano, Texas.

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.

June 28, 2021August 12, 2021

Alia Salem: Conversations about Community and Resilience

In this episode of the Hunt Institute Sages & Seekers podcast, Alia Salem emphasizes the importance of connecting with one’s community and beyond. For Salem, the only way to enact change and fight injustice is by supporting movements that are different from our own. Listen to this podcast to learn how we as a global community can work together to solve issues that can’t be solved in silos.

Alia Salem is the Founder and Executive Director of FACE (Facing Abuse in Community Environments). Her professional background is in organizational development, community organizing, and communications with a particular focus on the intersections of institutionalized racism and the push towards an equitable pluralistic society. She also has a certification in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA).

Alia is a co-founder of the Palestine Action Committee of Texas and an active board member with both the Dallas Peace and Justice Center and the North Texas Fair Housing Center. She is a proud 2019 Roddenberry Fellow and a Dallas Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project. Alia is the former Executive Director for the DFW Chapter of CAIR and is a 14-year veteran of community work within the broader DFW metroplex. She is a published writer and public speaker, and her work has been featured on most major media outlets globally. She is a graduate of UT Arlington with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with her three focuses of study being in Communications, Sociology, and Religion/Culture.

Alia Salem says, “I’ve always had a propensity to [a] serve, but also [b] to do so in a way that kind of fills a void and contributes my skillsets for the broader good, for the greater good.”

What is Hunt Sages & Seekers?

The Hunt Institute Sages & Seekers Podcast shares the stories of innovative social leaders and the resilient communities that have shaped them. The series explores guests’ personal experiences with social issues ranging from inequity in the arts and school segregation to climate change and police violence. Through conversations with these agents of change, listeners gain insight into the history of these matters and discover how we as a global community can work to correct them. Follow us on SoundCloud at Hunt Sages & Seekers Podcast.

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 19, 2021February 17, 2022

Alejandra Hinojosa

Alejandra Hinojosa is currently pursuing a MA in Sustainability and Development with a specialization in Global Sustainable Design and she is intending to graduate in 2022.

Alejandra is involved as a board member of non-profit Promise of Peace. In her spare time, she enjoys film, being outdoors, painting, gardening, and thrifting

In her role as Graduate Research Assistant for Dr. Zarazaga, Alejandra will be working on projects with Kijiji Sustainable Solutions. In the future, she plans to pursue a career spearheading collaborative projects at the intersection of sustainable design and environmental justice.

When asked what motivated her to work at the Hunt Institute, she replied, “I was drawn to the innovative projects I’m working on with Kijiji that promote equity, collaboration, and sustainability. The passionate, socially driven work is always the most exciting to be apart of.”

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.

August 31, 2020February 28, 2022

Beta COVID-19 Relief Map

Map in Dallas COVID-19 relief map services to help with food, community services, shelter, and more

In Spring of this year, the Hunt Institute’s Map 4 Good project evolved into Map InDallas, an organizational expansion that included the addition of a stakeholder Advisory Committee led by Dr. Eva Csaky and implemented with the guidance of Dr. James Olivier. Weeks later, the then-emerging COVID-19 pandemic shifted the focus to how best to use the existing plans and infrastructure to serve the Dallas community. The beta of the COVID Relief Map was launched by Map InDallas team in the middle of the Summer semester to stay true to the original goal of the project: connecting individuals in need to free service providers in the Dallas area. They continue to refine the data and help improve the categorization.

Various fellows, staff, and students have contributed to this project’s evolution but none have developed the map itself like Liam Lowsley-Williams, an undergraduate student working in web development and programming in the Hunt Institute and as a teacher’s assistant for the computer science department.

Regarding Liam’s motivation for this project, he said, “What drives my motivation is the fact that I can utilize my abilities in software engineering to make a beneficial impact on those who are suffering from COVID-19. We are certainly going through a rough time and I am proud to have the ability to do my part and give back.”

Focusing especially on the resources needed by the victims of the pandemic’s side effects, the aspiring beta COVID Relief Map seeks to helps users identify key service providers located near them like food pantries, community service locations, homeless shelters, and family counseling facilities. As the platform develops, users will be able to utilize a search function to navigate through the available resources or a filter function to limit the visible options to the specific service they are looking for. Once the user has located the service they would like to use, the COVID Relief Map will display an address and phone number to put clients in direct contact with the services they would like to use. It is projected all features of the COVID Relief Map will be functional by the end of the year.

While the map may have shifted slightly from its original conception, the team’s plans for the future remain the same. Aspiring upcoming digital features for the COVID Relief Map include search and sort based on eligibility criteria, turn by turn direction, and contact methods within the map itself. Additionally, the team is working on other mediums of the map to make it more accessible. It is currently available online, but the team hopes to have non-digital copies posted in strategic locations like public libraries and on mobile devices.

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 19, 2019March 2, 2022

South Dallas Soul Rep Theater

Left to right: Dr. Eva Csaky, Executive Director of HI, Soul Rep’s Guinea Bennett and Tonya Hollaway, Kyle Baker undergrad student designer, Dr. Jessie Zarazaga, HI Fellow and project advisor, and Corrie Harris, Assistant Director, Hunt Institute and GDL portfolio manager.

“The biggest dream is to have this as a stake in the ground in South Dallas and always be available to the community,” Soul Rep Co-Founder Guinea Bennett-Price said.

In the Spring of 2019, the Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity’s Global Development Lap (GDL) began a project for Soul Rep Theatre Company. The deliverable was a beautifully bound brochure to help communicate the vision and designs for renovations of a South Dallas building. The proposed building will serve as a community arts center, complete with a multi-use performance space, practice area, and communal gathering space. The project focuses on key areas like resilient infrastructure, the practice of employing human-centered design principles to engage communities, and fostering inclusive economic development which provides an opportunity for small businesses to function out of the area and reinvest into the local economy.

Soul Rep Theatre Company was founded in 1996 to provide opportunities for actors, writers, and directors to develop and share their talent with the Dallas arts community. The company, once run solely by volunteers, is now a professional theater company with a subscription-based season. According to its founders, their mission is to provide quality transformative Black theater that enlightens the imagination, the spirit, and the soul. The theatre also seeks to shift the paradigm of how the Black experience is valued by the world.

With renovation designs provided by this project, Soul Rep hopes to use the multi-purpose space to engage the community and foster collaboration in South Dallas. To help realize this goal, the renovation plans include a front porch restoration which to be used as an open space for neighbors and the Soul Rep community to connect. Soul Rep hopes that the front porch, and Soul Rep Arts Center as a whole, will revitalize Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, a street and area that has been long forgotten. The company envisions the space to be a unique and innovative “home” to curate, celebrate and collaborate as a community. “The biggest dream is to have this as a stake in the ground in South Dallas and always be available to the community,” Soul Rep Co-Founder Guinea Bennett-Price said.

The Soul Rep team hopes that the Arts Center will lift up not only the community but also the presence of Black Art in Dallas itself. Citing the lack of Black Art in the Arts District, Bennett-Price said she hopes that this center will reignite the Black Theatre Movement. “Grassroots is our identity,” Bennett-Price explained. “We want to grow beyond and we want to be the tree instead of the grass and the roots.”

Article was written by Jaclyn Soria, undergraduate Journalist

GDL team:

Dr. Jessie Zarazaga, Hunt Institute Fellow and project advisor

Kyle Baker, undergraduate research analyst and designer

Katherine Linares, grad Project Manager

Corrie Harris, Global Development Lab Portfolio Manager

January 26, 2018March 7, 2022

Hunt Institute Seminar Series: Just Change

November 8, 2017

Hunt Institute Seminar Series was proud to host Tynesia Boyea-Robinson, author of JUST CHANGE: HOW TO COLLABORATE FOR LASTING IMPACT, this week during our Seminar Series. In her book, Just Change: How To Collaborate For Lasting Impact, Boyea-Robinson shares her experience investing in cities and leaders across the country. The goal of Just Change is to help readers understand what’s working, what’s not working and why in order to improve their own communities.

Attendees arrived at the Institute despite the cold and rain and quickly filled the room with conversation, networking with colleagues and meeting new friends in the social impact space. The talk focused on the collaborative best practices Boyea-Robinson writes about in her book based on her extensive experience. The room was energized with her passion as she engaged the audience telling her story, showing up, and being transparent.

Tynesia has been a featured speaker for a broad array of audiences including South by Southwest and the White House Council for Community Solutions. She has published several articles, which have been featured in the Washington Post, Forbes and in Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity. Her work was also highlighted in the New York Times bestseller A Year Up as well as in the Harvard Business School case study Year Up: A Social Entrepreneur Builds High Performance. She serves on numerous boards and committees and recently accepted an appointment in the Hunt Institute as a Fellow.

She opened with this powerful statement, “I believe our country’s intractable problems are solvable because I meet leaders every day who are solving them. Just Change will help you learn from these leaders so you can have lasting impact in your community.” Her primary focus hovered on the outcomes portion of the material on system based changes applied to social sector work. Visit our YouTube channel for a recording of the presentation.

Interdisciplinary students smile and pose for the camera in between their duties at the seminar — Left to right: Tristan Knotts, Kim Strelke, Sara Langone, Wendy Alyea

At the end of the talk, Anna Clark, co-founder of the Inclusive Economy at the Institute, facilitated an interactive Q&A. Various members of the audience participated and joined the conversation about how to bring about lasting impact. Afterwards, Boyea-Robinson autographed copies of her book and interacted personally with attendees. Student analysts, interns, and volunteers of the Institute helped host the event then joined the diverse group of attendees discussing their research and listening to lively discussions about various areas of need in the social impact space.

The Hunt Institute Seminar Series features speakers that are actively involved in making lasting impact in resilient infrastructure, sustainable food systems, and inclusive economy. Tynesia Boyea-Robinson is President and CEO of Reliance Methods. Boyea-Robinson’s experience as an entrepreneur, Six Sigma blackbelt, and technologist uniquely positions her to catalyze a results-driven era of social change. In her previous role as Chief Impact Officer of Living Cities, Tynesia was responsible for ensuring $100M of investment produced outcomes that improved the lives of low income people across the country.

In 2011, Boyea-Robinson founded Reliance Methods to help Fortune 500 clients like the Carlyle Group, Marriott, and others change the way the world does business. Tynesia has been leading and writing about enterprises that “do well and do good” for over a decade. As President and CEO of Reliance Methods, she continues to demonstrate how business and community goals can powerfully align towards mutual outcomes.

The next Hunt Institute Seminar in the Series will be held in the spring semester of 2018. Like our FaceBook page to follow us and set your notifications for events to feed into your news feed.

Contributors to this blog article: Ms Boyea-Robinson, Corrie Harris, Maggie Inhofe, and Kim Strelke.