Harshada Pednekar ’21 joined the Hunt Institute to work in GIS mapping and research in environmental engineering with a concentration in waste to energy. Before coming to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Lyle School of Engineering, Harshada 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, capacity ranging from 1000kg to100 TPD of municipal solid waste. After graduation, Harshada began work at AECOM in Greenville, South Carolina as a Civil Engineer.
When asked why she was drawn to the Hunt Institute, Harshada said, “I was attracted to the Institute when I heard about the “Waste to Energy” Project. Waste is not waste until we waste it. I believe that working at the Institute will support my aspirations for working in this field with a strong industrial interface that will keep me updated with the latest developments. This project is teaching me all the aspects of engineering, management, and finance.”
Harshada now has both a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Southern Methodist University’s Lyle School of Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from KIT’s College of Engineering in Kolhapur, MH, India. In addition to working in the Institute as a Graduate Research Analyst, Pednekar served as a Teaching Assistant in the Field & Lab Methods for Lyle School of Engineering. She was also an active member of the Lyle Senior Design Team that took First Place in the virtual Student Design Competition, sponsored by the Water Environment Association of Texas (WEAT).
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.
Alison Harwood is committed to promoting finance as a force for positive change. She is a consultant on sustainable and green finance and investing with impact and a Senior Fellow in Residence at the Milken Institute School of Public Health focused on mobilizing private capital to finance the SDGs.
Alison is a recognized leader in building capital markets in emerging market countries. She was Global Head of Capital Markets at the World Bank Group, leading operations to build local markets and market-based solutions and modeling ways to leverage advisory and financing resources to better address large-scale development challenges. Earlier, Alison was Director of the Capital Markets Practice at the Barents Group, KPMG’s emerging markets consulting arm, and Resident Advisor on financial sector reform with Harvard’s Institute for International Development in Indonesia. She began her career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Alison has published and is a frequent speaker on emerging markets and sustainable finance. She is on the board of CiFi, which finances sustainable infrastructure in Latin America, and the Advisory Board and a program leader on sustainable and green capital markets at the Toronto Centre, leading work on green capital markets. She has an M.B.A. and Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University.
To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please clickhere. 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 calledSages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you candonate, orsign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.
James McGuire is a Fellow in the Hunt Institute where he brings his expertise as a government executive with expertise in water, energy, and the environment. McGuire also serves on the Leadership Council for the Hunt Institute’s Inclusive Economy.
He is Regional Counsel for U.S. EPA Region 6, covering Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Prior to his role at EPA, James served the public as the Director of Environmental Quality & Sustainability at the City of Dallas and as general counsel to Dallas Water Utilities.
In all of his roles, he has used his significant experience in regulatory compliance, enforcement, permitting, emergency response, resilience sustainability planning, and environmental law to lead and innovate.
“I chose public service because of the opportunity to work towards making a positive impact. I take satisfaction in knowing that my efforts have supported a higher quality of life in the community, and that is a true reward for a job well done. Fortunately, there are many people in Dallas and associated with SMU and the Hunt Institute that are making significant impacts in their respective fields and helping solve inequities.”
James received a B.A., English, Duke University, a B.S., Earth & Ocean Sciences with highest honors, Duke University, an M.S., Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, and a J.D., Emory University School of Law. 2019 awards related to work at the City of Dallas include the United Nations Day Global Leadership Award, U.S. EPA Excellence in Green Power Use Award, TXU Energy Sustainability Award, and the Air North Texas Award for Outstanding Initiative.
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.
The Hunt Institute Social Enterprise Program is proud to introduce our first student social entrepreneur, Mohammed Njie. Mohammed is a rising senior at Southern Methodist University studying Electrical Engineering in Lyle School of Engineering. He was born and raised in The Gambia, a country in Western Africa. In the Gambia, 52% of people do not have access to electricity, and the remaining 48% have unreliable access. Mohammed attended high school at one of the few schools with electricity. Seeing students at other institutions that did not have access to electricity, motivated him to help close this gap.
A villager in Tintinto Village teaches Mohammed about life without reliable clean energy
Mohammed founded Janta Energy, a social enterprise, with the goal of bringing clean, reliable energy to The Gambia. His vision is to see all of Africa have access to reliable affordable clean energy in his lifetime. With support from the Hunt Institute, SMU’s Office of Engaged Learning, the Grand Challenge Scholars program, and the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership, Mohammed initiated a pilot project on his last trip to The Gambia during the winter break in 2019. The project installed solar panels on a school rooftop in a rural area in The Gambia to test capacity and determine elements needed to enhance students’ academic experience.
Items Installed for the pilot project;
Five 330 Watt 24 volt solar panels.
Two 250 amp, 12-volt solar batteries.
A 50 amp solar charge controller.
After several months of usage, the report from the school administrators revealed that having access to electricity created many opportunities for this school and its students.
A library in the school in Tintinto Village now has electricity
According to their report, the school is currently only utilizing 30% of the installed capacity. With this excess capacity, they are in the process of introducing fans throughout the school. The estimated usage is expected to rise to approximately 70% capacity. The school plans to utilize the last 30% to install computers for student use, which will greatly enhance the possibilities for exploration and learning. Once the pilot project is completed, Janta Energy plans to use this concept to build a microgrid, with the school at the center, to help power the entire village. Looking ahead to the future, Janta Energy seeks to replicate the model used in Tintinto Village across other rural villages, eventually spanning the rest of the country.
Stay tuned for more updates from Mohammed, and his Janta Energy continues working to provide The Gambia with access to sustainable electricity. To learn more about the Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program, visit smu.edu/socialenterprise. Check the Hunt Institute Digest next week to meet another amazing social entrepreneur.
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.
Rachel Levitt is graduated from Southern Methodist University with an MBA in the Cox School of Business studying marketing and management, with a specialization in customer engagement. She served as President of Net Impact and as an MBA Ambassador, and also has membership with Women in Business, the Jewish Business Club, and the Marketing Club.
Rachel has been recognized as a Forte Fellow and as a member of the Cox Dean’s Circle. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, hiking, and baking, specifically with Nutella.
Rachel says, “What drew me to working at the Hunt Institute was the opportunity to connect my studies at Cox with my passion for community involvement. One of the most fulfilling parts of my role as the Social Enterprise Program Lead is meeting so many like-minded individuals in the Dallas area who are committed to bettering our community and the world.”
At the Hunt Institute, Rachel was the Program Lead for the Social Enterprise Program where she works to address the key barriers faced by early stage social entrepreneurs, including capacity constraints and a need for strategic guidance, by connecting social entrepreneurs to critical resources. In addition to developing the program, Rachel contributes to the marketing strategy through the Hunt Institute Digest with weekly posts about key issues facing social entrepreneurs, highlighting social enterprises of note, or interviews of past and present members of the Hunt Institute Social Enterprise Cohorts.
After completing her MBA, Rachel has been working as a Search Engine Optimization Specialist at Mark Cuban Specialists.
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.
The Hunt Institute Social Enterprise Program is proud to have Jin-Ya Huang of Break Bread Break Borders (BBBB) as one of four social entrepreneurs in our founding cohort. Jin-Ya founded BBBB after she lost her mother, Margaret Huang, to cancer. Margaret was a chef, restaurateur, and community leader. BBBB exists to honor her legacy. Through food, culture, and powerful storytelling, the organization breaks bread with the community and breaks down borders at the same time
Break Bread Break Borders is catering with a cause: empowering refugee women to earn a living through their existing cooking skills while they share their incredible stories with the community. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, BBBB was forced to suspend its catering business. Currently, BBBB is working to find a way to continue bringing their delicious, authentic food to customers. Stay tuned for updates on the future of this amazing organization.
To read more about Jin-Ya and Break Bread, Break Borders, visit the website at breakbreadbreakborders.com. To learn more about the Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program, visit smu.edu/socialenterprise. Check back on the blog next week to meet another one of the social entrepreneurs in the founding cohort!
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.
A group of multidisciplinary lab researchers collaborated with the Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity’s Global Development Lab and Dr. Ali Beskok, as he and his team research to develop a low cost, portable, point of care microfluidic device capable of diagnosing multiple conditions. As part of this project, a broader impact report authored by an interdisciplinary group of undergraduate students at the Southern Methodist University working in the Hunt Institute aimed to address the areas of greatest need in response to UNSDG #3 “to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages.” The report is titled Bridging the Gap in Diagnostics.
With the recent global pandemic, the team shifted its focus to COVID 19 antibody (immunity) detection. Dr. Beskok is quoted as saying, “Although the gold standard for antibody detection is the enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA), its application is limited by its portability and high-cost operation. Its detection mechanism relies on receptor/target molecule reactions, which take place through diffusion-dominated transport kinetics. Therefore, the detection mechanism is quite slow and has low sensitivity. Unfortunately, the most recently developedlateral flow assaysalso exhibit low sensitivity and specificity, and these cannot be reliably used for determining the spread of COVID-19 infection.”
The Multiplexed Assay for the Immune Response to COVID-19 (MAIRC) system the team is developing will offer a quantifiable, accurate, fast, and inexpensive diagnostic method with its customized chips, electronics hardware, and software interface, able to detect immune response to COVID-19 based on human IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies. The finalized microfluidic chip can be mass-produced with plastic molding or wafer-scale fab.
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.
Scott Zuo is a junior at Southern Methodist University working toward a B.S. in Management Science and Statistics. He serves as a member of the SMU Statistics Club and as an active member of the American Statistics Association (ASA).
Scott has been recognized as a Distinguished Scholar and as a Discovery Scholar. After completing his undergraduate studies, Scott would like to go to a graduate school for further study in the field of statistics. In his free time, he enjoys movies, music, and basketball.
At the Hunt Institute, Scott’s skills in analytics and managing data have been utilized in his current role on the ImpactMap project where he has been appointed as Data Manager. This job includes managing data content and tools to make the ImpactMap more effective and useful, as well as researching best practices, and collecting, organizing, and evaluating data from various sources. Scott also works in the Global Development Lab as an Undergraduate Research Analyst. He has worked on the Moments that Matter Phase II project which will help business development and support providers nationwide to improve how they engage with women-veteran entrepreneurs.
Scott finds his motivation at work to be “all the potential benefits of the projects of our Institute as well as the way we approach every task by applying our knowledge and wisdom to achieve our goals, all of these have built up the components that motivate me to keep working for the Institute and makes me feel fulfilled.”
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.
Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB) are comprised of a mixture of local soil, sand, water, and a stabilizer (such as cement) that is machine-compacted into a mold and allowed to cure for approximately one month. These blocks provide the structure of buildings as alternatives to bricks or other construction materials. The Better Building project researches CEB’s effectiveness as a low-cost and sustainable building material and investigate strategies for scaling CEB into a widespread building material.
SMU Civil Engineering Assistant Professor Dr. Brett Story leads a group of students in a pressure test of earthen bricks on Thursday, July 14, 2016 in the J. Lindsay Embrey Engineering Building on the SMU campus in Dallas.
“Our society as a whole needs to leverage the forces of globalization, technological advancement, and climate change – what the UN calls ‘the three mega forces’ – for disruptive solutions to further inclusive sustainable economic development,” Director of the Hunt Institute Dr. Eva Csaky said. “We can reach this goal by harnessing the power of disruptive collaboration.” The CEB research partnership and collaboration between Dr. Brett Story and the Hunt Institute began in 2015. Dr. Story’s research for Phase I focused on the strength testing of CEBs under a variety of conditions including varying moisture levels, cement content, and soil type.
Phase II focused determining local soil characteristics for different types of soil found globally as a first step in standardization. Designing with CEB requires an understanding of the local soil conditions and how composition, moisture, and other variables interact and affect construction. This process is taught by Dwell Earth, an organization dedicated to spreading this knowledge through hands-on training workshops to share their efficient and intuitive building system. Founder, Adam De Jong, is an Affiliate in the Institute and has consistently provided his expertise to Dr. Story over the years as he expands his research now into Phase III.
Plans for Phase III will be to compare data pulled from three small-scale prototype structures built from insulated plywood, concrete masonry unit (CMU), and CEB. Duplicate prototypes will produce data to analyze from two locations, one set will be at the SMU @ Taos campus and the second set will be at the SMU’s main campus in Dallas, Texas.
Phase III’s objectives are to perform analyses and compare data from the test structures at both the Taos and Dallas campuses and investigate relationships between soil type and mix design, block strength, and thermal properties. This investigation will also include models developed by Dr. Story’s lab team, which includes Ph.D. students Jase Sitton and Robert Hillyard as well as undergraduate researchers Adriana Mena and Ziyu Sun. The Hunt Institute team includes an undergraduate project manager and the undergraduate researcher, Madison Rodriguez. This team will produce a report analyzing building requirements when using CEB in New Mexico which will inform the vision of a living laboratory in SMU @ Taos.
Dr. Story’s vision is, “…the end goal is to use the data obtained during this project to make recommendations for full-scale, more permanent structures than can be used by faculty and students at the SMU Taos campus. The information learned during this project will be used to start the design of a “living” laboratory, which would be a laboratory building constructed with CEB and instrumented with a variety of sensors. In this way, the structure is both the laboratory space as well as the test specimen.”
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.
The EVIE project is entering its third phase in the Global Development Lab at the Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity. Three years after its first public unveiling at Earth Day Texas in 2017, work on the mobile greenhouse has continued to push the boundaries of innovating a solution to Dallas’ fresh produce problem. The purpose of EVIE is to serve Dallas community members as a sustainable opportunity for fresh produce by encouraging their participation in the harvesting, maintaining, and general operations of a greenhouse.
EVIE’s name was derived from Eve, which is commonly associated with life and beginnings, appropriately matching the Institute’s goals for the project. In 2018, the Department of Agriculture identified 88 separate food deserts in Dallas County. Over half of the food deserts were in three southern portions of Dallas, encompassing close to 400,000 residents. EVIE is designed to be movable through areas lacking fresh produce and easily replicable to increase the availability of fresh produce across the food deserts. The first phase of EVIE focused on designing an easily replicable greenhouse model that could function in recycled environments, including an old, rickety Shasta trailer. In Phase II of the project, researchers from the Hunt Institute examined techniques that could facilitate irrigation, solar access, and temperature controls needed to maintain the greenhouse in any environment.
Plant Lab team lead Mitchell Dye works on the roof
Before Phase III could begin, the SMU Engineers Without Boards Plant Lab team gave EVIE a much-needed makeover. The roof had a leak. The makeover was completed right before spring break when the COVID-19 Global Pandemic hit the Unites States. Students are working remotely but unable to physically work on EVIE or in Labs as of June 2020. When they are able to return and resume work, Phase III of EVIE plans to make EVIE nearly autonomous to limit work and outside effort required to maintain the greenhouse. To achieve sustainability, EVIE will run off a solar panel to supply power for any water pumping or climate control measures. In addition, a rain collection system will provide irrigation to the individual planters. Through both of these additions to the current mobile greenhouse, EVIE will be able to provide fresh, healthy produce without requiring significant labor or effort on the part of community members.
The findings from this project hope to contribute to the agriculture value-chain development in rural and urban areas by promoting community involvement and educating local schools, food banks, and churches on environmentally sustainable, hydroponic, aeroponic, and vertical greenhouse growing methods.
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.
Harshada Pednekar ’21 joined the Hunt Institute to work in GIS mapping and research in environmental engineering with a concentration in waste to energy. Before coming to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Lyle School of Engineering, Harshada 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, capacity ranging from 1000kg to100 TPD of municipal solid waste. After graduation, Harshada began work at AECOM in Greenville, South Carolina as a Civil Engineer.
