SMU – Page 7 – Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity

September 8, 2020February 28, 2022

A Food System in Crisis

Sustainable farming and best practices for a better food system

Fighting climate change and food insecurity are two core issues addressed by Dr. Eva Csaky, Executive Director of the Hunt Institute, co-founder of the Inclusive Economy Consortium (IEC), and creator of the Texas Sustainable & Inclusive Food System Coalition. These organizations are working together to address a food system that is in crisis. Social entrepreneurs working locally, like Dr. Owen Lynch founder of Restorative Farms, are also paramount in addressing these issues as we adjust to the disruption in our global supply chain by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two weeks ago, The Guardian published an article by Tom Philpott with the alarming headline, “Unless we change course, the US agricultural system could collapse.”

Philpott explains that California is responsible for growing a significant portion of the country’s vegetables. In fact, according to the USDA 2017 Census of Agriculture, California comprised 42% of total U.S. vegetable sales. Moreover, California had 1.2 million harvested vegetable acres in 2017. The problem is, with global warming, that supply has been and continues to decline. In years when there is little precipitation, farmers tap aquifers to fulfill their irrigation needs. Unfortunately, this process causes the ground to gradually sink, a phenomenon called subsidence. Subsidence, in turn, damages the canals that carry the melted snow of the Sierra Nevada to farms in the area. And thus, we have a vicious cycle that continues to negatively affect the water supply available to California’s farmers.

The state of Iowa comprises 7% of US agriculture sales, according to the USDA 2017 Census of Agriculture State Profile. With its fertile topsoil, called mollisol, Iowa is a great place for farming. However, again due to climate change, more intense weather patterns have put extra pressure on the soil. Also contributing to the loss of mollisol is the fact that Iowa primarily grows only two crops – corn and soybeans. The article cites the soil scientist Rick Cruse, who found that “Iowa is losing soil at a rate 16 times the pace of natural replenishment.”

There is not a simple solution to the food system in crisis. Complex issues require complex solutions. Philpott proposes that other areas of the US should increase their fruit and vegetable production, and Iowa farmers could diversify their crops rather than accepting payment to overproduce corn and soybeans. Others theorize that technology-based growing systems like hydroponics that enable vertical farms would significantly reduce the agricultural footprint. The implementation of these solutions should be collaborative and sustainable in practice.

Fighting climate change and food insecurity go hand in hand. At the Hunt Institute, we are working toward finding solutions in collaboration with farmers. Through collaboration, the IEC, Hunt Institute, scientists, agriculturalists, and farmers can come together to share knowledge and experiences in order to create sustainable solutions that achieve climate and food justice. Read more about the Texas Sustainable & Inclusive Food System Coalition and their founding members to find out how you can engage.

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.

September 7, 2020February 28, 2022

Why We Do What We Do: Part 1

How can we help repair our world after COVID-19?

Sitting in her office on another Zoom call, the Assistant Director, Corrie Harris, works to motivate team members given the current state of affairs: an ever-changing landscape that greatly affects their ability to collaborate with in-country partners and affiliates. A series of delays, losses, and obstacles have flown in their path, yet they continue to press on.

When the shelter-in-place order was given in March 2020, the team members in the Institute quickly adjusted to remote work. The transition was seamless, as the Institute was already structured to accommodate full-time college students’ schedules by leveraging online project management and communication platforms. When other programs came to a screeching halt, the Institute persevered, taking steps to preserve the connectedness often lost with remote work. Now, given the opening of the SMU campus for the fall semester, they have a consistent system allowing for a hybrid workspace of both remote and in-person collaboration.

The question was asked, “What keeps the team going with all this uncertainty?” Harris responded, “Since I was a little girl, I have always been drawn to helping others. I am not alone. All the student workers, affiliates, and leadership at the Institute have their own version of this statement. It is why we do what we do. It is what keeps us motivated. Now with the consequences of the global pandemic at the forefront, institutes like ours need to be at the ready. Everyone here at the Institute feels it, and we keep pushing to find solutions.”

For the past two years, the Hunt Institute’s Global Development Lab (GDL) has evolved from the pilot stage to a mature program. With over sixty affiliates, an average of twenty to twenty-five student workers, and an extensive network of industry partners, the Institute has become a hub for fostering collaborative, innovative solutions. “There is something inside of us that is hard to explain, something that draws us to make the world a better place beyond what some may think is possible. Utopia may be a fantasy, but it is worth seeking and reaching for every day. It is in that reaching, seeking, and working that we help improve the lives of others. In so doing, we always improve our own lives.”

This Fall semester, we will highlight various team members as they courageously continue working on their projects in the GDL, overcoming the obstacles and uncertainty brought on by the global pandemic. Stay tuned to the Hunt Institute Digest to get a first-hand account as the story of this semester unfolds.

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

September 2, 2020February 28, 2022

What does it take to become a social entrepreneur?

Social Entrepreneurs characteristics and how to become a social entrepreneur

What does it take to become a social entrepreneur? Previous blog posts in the Hunt Institute Digest have outlined that a social entrepreneur is someone who seeks to drive positive social or environmental change in their community.

Across a myriad of reputable sources, it is commonly agreed upon that social entrepreneurs identify a problem in society that they are passionate about, develop a creative solution to address that problem, and establish an organization that persistently pursues that mission. There are many other aspects to social entrepreneurs but we will focus on these three in this post.

PASSION: Social entrepreneurs are invested in their organization’s mission. They are determined to see their dream become reality and will take the necessary risks to achieve their goals. Social entrepreneurs care deeply about improving their community.

A Forbes article titled “5 Social Entrepreneurs On How To Turn Your Passion Into A Successful Impact-Driven Business” by MeiMei Fox gives an example of a passionate entrepreneur, founder & CEO of SunPoynt Energy, Kennedy Lamwenya. Growing up in rural Kenya, Lamwenya and those in his community did not have access to reliable electricity. His parents struggled to afford the kerosene the family relied on for light and it often ran out of fuel before Kennedy completed his schoolwork. These challenges inspired Lamwenya to found SunPoynt Energy which brings solar-powered TVs to rural areas in Kenya. The TV systems give Kenyans access to light, cell phone charging ports, news, educational programs, and entertainment.

CREATIVITY: Social entrepreneurs approach problems differently than most. Instead of accepting the way something is, they challenge and question why it can’t be better. They have an ability to look at issues from multiple angles and develop innovative solutions.

A Cause Artist article titled “The 35 Social Entrepreneurs To Watch For In 2019” by Grant Trahant examines Clarence Tan, a creative social entrepreneur and founder & CEO of Boddle Learning, an edtech company. His platform allows elementary school students to learn and practice math skills in an engaging game-based format. Boddle uses a unique, adaptive learning algorithm so that each student receives differentiated questions specific to their learning needs.

PERSISTENCE: Social entrepreneurs face many challenges, especially in the early stages of building their social enterprise. They must persist through these obstacles by learning from mistakes, adapting to make improvements, and connecting with others who can support their mission.

Robin D. Schatz in her Forbes article titled “How A Social Entrepreneur Overcame His ‘Arrogant Failure’ And Won Kudos From Oprah”, describes how Gavin Armstrong demonstrates persistence. Armstrong is the founder and CEO of Lucky Iron Fish whose organization’s mission is to eliminate iron deficiency, which affects almost 3.5 billion people globally. The solution is a fish-shaped cooking tool. Dropping the product into your cooking water for 10 minutes provides 75% of the daily requirement of iron. When the company opened for business in Cambodia, they expected their affordable product to sell well. However, they only sold about one fish per month. Instead of giving up on the idea, what Armstrong realized is that the organization needed to build trust in the community before they can expect citizens to purchase their product. By partnering with established NGOs in the community, Lucky Iron Fish built its credibility and has now helped over 10,000 families in Cambodia with iron deficiencies.

Early-stage social entrepreneurs are catalytic innovators who produce disruptive innovations, but often face momentous obstacles. The Hunt Institute‘s Social Enterprise program is designed to support high potential social entrepreneurs during the initial phases of development. Do you have what it takes to become a successful social entrepreneur?

August 24, 2020February 28, 2022

Spotlight on Local Dallas Entrepreneurs: Yulise Waters

Spotlight on Local Dallas Entrepreneurs: Yulise Waters, Deputy Director at Lone Star Justice Alliance

This week, the Hunt Institute would like to spotlight another member of the Inclusive Economy Consortium (IEC) Leadership Council and Hunt Institute Fellow, Yulise Reaves Waters. Ms. Waters is the Deputy Director at Lone Star Justice Alliance (LSJA), a nonprofit legal organization that improves the lives of youth and emerging adults in the justice system. She is responsible for overseeing and developing the Transformative Justice Model operating in Dallas County (SCCIP) and Williamson County (RISE). This multi-disciplinary program for emerging adults (ages 17-24) identifies and addresses the unmet needs which contributed to their involvement in the criminal justice system in order to reduce their likelihood of recidivism. As an executive team member, Waters also helps leads LSJA’s strategy, operations, and development.

Waters states that the most rewarding part of her job is getting to be a part of systemic change in the criminal justice system and collaborating with others who are equally as passionate about this work. One challenge, she points out, is the double-sided nature of innovation and change. “The system, unfortunately, was designed to get the results we are getting. Consequently, the whole thing needs to be overhauled and reimagined. The process of change and innovation makes this work both attractive and challenging. Vision casting and implementation is never easy,” Waters explains.

But being an innovator is a part of Waters’ DNA. Her dad, “Smokey” John Reaves, founder of family owned and operated Smokey John’s BBQ, was an entrepreneur, and she has been involved with start-ups for the majority of her life. “There is uncertainty and chaos that comes along with being a social entrepreneur,” Waters shares. Thus, her best advice for future social entrepreneurs is to remain flexible in the pursuit of your mission and always remember your ‘why’. For Waters, the why is her unwavering belief that all human life is valuable. “The number of lives that are marginalized, discounted, and thrown away by our criminal justice system is a travesty,” she expresses, “Everybody deserves an opportunity to be successful.”

You can read more about Yulise here and about the important work of the Lone Star Justice Initiative here. Stay tuned to the Hunt Institute Digest for more examples and case studies of social entrepreneurs.

August 10, 2020February 28, 2022

The Importance of Social Enterprises

If social enterprises are on the rise, should corporations address societal issues?

A year ago, the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs from major American companies, issued a statement redefining the purpose of a corporation as serving all stakeholders and no longer just delivering value to shareholders. Harvard Business Review argued that one reason for this shift was because a profit-maximizing focus does not incentivize businesses to tackle the many challenges facing the world today like climate change, inequality, resource scarcity, and so forth. Even prior to this statement, a 2018 Deloitte study cited a trend towards enterprises increasing their focus on social impact.

Of course, today, the world is faced with an even more pressing challenge, the coronavirus pandemic. “This crisis has only sharpened the need for the work of social enterprises by laying bare the cracks in our systems, from healthcare to employment disparities, to upended education and gutted livelihoods,” says the SKOLL Foundation. Now, in the wake of the pandemic, is the time to solidify this idea that corporations don’t exist solely to serve their shareholders. The World Economic Forum shares that, “We can now explore an entrepreneurial way of life where enterprise can help communities across the globe solve socio-economic problems while being true to market forces. Maybe it is time for individual enterprise and collective purpose to work in harmony.”

Over the course of the last 5 months, we have seen many examples of established corporations as well as smaller-scale social enterprises taking this purpose to heart and doing their part to combat the pandemic. A couple of specific examples…

T-Mobile was ranked by JUST Capital and Forbes as 5^th out of the 100 largest U.S. corporations for their response. In addition to more paid time off and a relaxed attendance policy for their employees, the company was part of an effort to provide hospitals across the nation with 40,000 phone chargers.
In Colombia, Fundación Capital, a nonprofit social enterprise, updated its virtual assistant to provide reliable information about the pandemic and tips for managing personal finances during a time of crisis.

As the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated, “Now more than ever, as big decisions are made about our future, companies need to address environmental, social and governance risks holistically and move beyond business-as-usual.”

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

August 3, 2020February 28, 2022

Where Engineering and Chemistry Intersect for Global Impact

During these uncertain times, the Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity’s Global Development Lab has been hard at work this summer. Fellows, faculty, and industry professionals collaborate to create meaningful solutions to promote a resilient humanity. While supporting our community the Global Development addresses the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and challenges. One collaborative interdisciplinary team is lead by two Fellows, Dr. David Son and Dr. Paul Krueger. Their project is a joint chemical and engineering approach to develop a degradable plastic to address the environmental issues of plastic waste. It is comprised of two lab teams and a team in the Hunt Institute. Featured in the image to the left was the team in the Spring of 2020 semester. Over the Summer semester, Sami Streb joined Dr. Krueger’s lab team and Taylor Grace as the undergraduate project manager.

Currently, many biodegradable products in the market are bio-based, produced from nature (plants, animals, or microorganisms). For example, they may contain products such as polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids. However, this approach faces challenges due to high cost, weaker performance, and overlooked environmental issues. Several degradable plastics have proven to break down faster under specific environmental conditions. Although, it may not actually reflect the normal environment, but it may not be effectively degradable under natural conditions. Many biodegradable plastics tend to need particular waste management methods which are not always widely available. These challenges pose a gap in the market due to the composition and degradation abilities.

As a result, Dr. Son and Dr. Krueger plan to investigate various prototype plastics with predictable degradation and mechanical properties, specifically useful in applications for alleviating plastic waste. These characteristics are significant advances to biodegradable products currently leading the market. With the ability to control the plastic’s properties, they can impart certain desirable properties to the material or give predictable properties to the final plastic material.

In order to make the largest impact in the current biodegradable plastic industry, a potential deliverable for their research could be to pursue a single-use PPE similar to what is typically used due to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Specifically, the project is researching the production of a degradable mask frame with adequate seal to the face, as seen in N95 respirator masks. Typically, plastic can take ~ a thousand years to degrade in a landfill where degradable plastic (or PPLs) can degrade in ~ one year. Certain plastics can be designed to begin degrading when introduced to a certain property like salt water. The teams are exploring a variety of options. One area of interest is the inevitable increase of medical waste due to the rise in single-use face coverings and analyzing the shortage of single-use respirator masks in health care facilities due to the direct interactions with infected patients. This is in alignment with the UNSDG Goal 3, “To ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages.” It will also address Goal 14, “To conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources” due to the degradable nature of the frame.

Stay tuned to the Hunt Institute Digest to read more about this project and other projects in the Global Development Lab.

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 3, 2020February 28, 2022

Common Challenges Faced by Social Entrepreneurs

Social entrepreneurs are key to directly addressing social needs in under-resourced communities. But early-stage social enterprises face momentous obstacles. The single largest obstacle is, of course, access to funding. As the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors points out, “For philanthropists accustomed to more traditional grantees, funding social enterprises can feel like entering uncharted territory. Donors might find themselves intrigued by the potential for change, and yet, at the same time, unsure of what to expect in a field where the unexpected is the norm.” In the 2019 Halcyon Social Enterprise Ecosystems report, almost 20% of the 624 social entrepreneurs interviewed stated that they self-financed their enterprise or relied on the support of family and friends.

Another challenge that social enterprises face is measuring their social impact. According to a 2008 report from the Center for Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE), “Impact assessment is still a crude and inexact science.” The fact that it is difficult to quantify a social enterprise’s value creation only exacerbates the first challenge of receiving funding because potential investors are looking for evidence that their investment will indeed affect change.

The above obstacles lead to yet another common problem faced by social entrepreneurs: the ability to scale. CASE identified in its research that, “There is a huge gap between early stage, seed funder money and later stage, multi- million funding.” Many investors are interested in funding the next big idea rather than investing in the expansion of an established social enterprise. Moreover, the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship identifies that constraints in supply chain, restraining government policies, or lack of partnership opportunities can limit the ability of a social enterprise to expand.

The objective of the Hunt Institute’s (HI) Social Enterprise Program (SEP) is to support social entrepreneurs in overcoming these obstacles in order to accelerate their social value creation. HI’s SEP provides early-stage social enterprises with a program and toolbox designed to empower them to obtain funding as well as access to a multidisciplinary network of experts and business mentors.

To learn more about the Social Enterprise Program, visit smu.edu/socialenterprise. For more case studies and examples, stay tuned to the Hunt Institute Digest.

July 28, 2020February 28, 2022

Moments that Matter

The Veteran Women’s Enterprise Center is working toward improving engagement with veteran women entrepreneurs through a series of national focus groups in 2020. The data from the focus groups will help business development and support providers across our nation improve how they engage women veteran entrepreneurs. The purpose is to gather data to advocate for additional services and adequate funding across our nation for women veteran entrepreneurs.

VR Small is the VWEC’s CEO and an Associate in the Hunt Institute. VR’s project was accepted into the 2020 Cohort for the Global Development Lab in January. Phase I of Moments that Matter was comprised of a survey to women veteran entrepreneurs in the DFW metroplex in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. A report of the survey outcomes is expected to be released summer 2020. Phase II is the design and implementation of the focus groups for a deeper dive into key survey questions.

VR’s undergraduate analyst Scott Zuo, undergraduate project manager Shelby Lauren Griffith, and GDL Portfolio Manager Corrie Harris have navigated uncharted waters due to the global pandemic managing to push this project forward amid closures, delays, and ever-changing redirects. As a result, they have created an online alternative for the focus groups. Collaboration with faculty members has helped the team to design an online formulate qualitative questions for the focus group sessions. VR is also a Navy veteran and social entrepreneur. She brings an added layer of relevance to the process with her many years of experience in the small business arena.

Ultimately, this process will result in an online platform that provides a national, regional, and local overview of women veteran entrepreneurs, outlining demographics, industries, average revenues, contracts, capital secured, and more. This platform will offer metrics that clearly identify how women veteran entrepreneurs are helping to drive our nation’s economy. In addition, this data will highlight potential areas of support, such as enhanced technical assistance, access to varied financial products, and expanded contracting opportunities. Both veteran women entrepreneurs and those that partner with them will have access to this platform.

Gaining feedback from women veteran business owners about the moments that matter most during their entrepreneurial journey will provide key decision makers and funders with a vivid illustration of the real economic impact. It will also inform them of the ongoing challenges faced by women veteran entrepreneurs. The data from their feedback will help drive the timely allocation of funding resources to areas that will have the greatest impact toward advancing women veteran owned businesses in our nation. In addition, this is an opportunity to highlight those who have proudly served in the military and to share their unique experiences. Now more than ever, we need to amplify the voices of our women entrepreneurs and ensure they have the resources needed to succeed.

July 21, 2020February 28, 2022

Filling the Gap for Seismic Protection

Peru is located in a seismic zone where the South American Plate moves toward the sea over the Nazca Plate causing earthquakes as a result of the thrust faulting on the interface of the two plates. According to Volcano Discovery, Peru endured 81 quakes in May of 2020. With the exception of an occasional break in seismic energy, Peruvians live with earthquakes as a daily condition. Dr. Nicos Makris, Hunt Institute Fellow, has been leading a research team of collaborators and students at SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering as well as internationally, to address this pressing issue. Their project in the Global Development Lab (GDL) focuses on seismic protection solutions for confined masonry urban housing. The in-country partner is Dr. Marcial Blondet who has dedicated over thirty years to researching the effects of seismic activity on masonry and adobe construction in Peru.

All projects in the GDL address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This effort directly targets SDG #11 which seeks to ensure that growth in housing and urban development is safe, equitable, and environmentally conscious. UN Target 11.5 highlights the importance of this effort as it sets the target to “significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters…with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations” (1).

Kostas Kalfas (Ph.D. student and researcher), Corrie A. Harris (Portfolio Manager), JuliaGrace Walker (Undergraduate Project Manager), Sam Borton (Undergraduate Research Analysis), and Dr. Nicos Makris.

Even middle-class urban residents in Peru’s urban environment often reside in poorly constructed confined masonry houses which, in the case of a severe earthquakes, are at the risk of suffering serious damage. Professional construction is expensive and beyond reach for the majority of Peruvians. For this reason, the seismic protection market is increasingly narrowing its focus to low-cost solutions. One of the goals of this project has been to evaluate existing low-cost solutions accessible for most Peruvians (2). Finding that even “low-cost” solutions are out of reach for most Peruvians, Dr. Makris makes an alternate proposition. Rocking isolation offers great potential as an innovative and economical alternative for seismic protection, but it has yet to be implemented as low-cost housing reinforcement. Makris’ emerging system of seismic protection could address the pressing need for affordable seismic protection of existing masonry structures.

Sam Borton, Hunt Institute Undergraduate Research Analyst, made a significant contribution to this post with his market analysis of low-cost seismic protection. The complete analysis will be released in a future post. Stay tuned to read more!

About the Sustainable Development Goals – United Nations Sustainable Development. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
Blondet, M., & Loaiza, C. (2020). Vulnerabilidad Sísmica de las Construcciones en el Perú: Informe Preliminar. Lecture presented in Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú: Departamento de Ingeniería.

July 20, 2020February 28, 2022

Sustainable Food Systems

The Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program is a social enterprise incubator focused on developing and improving food systems in Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex and across the globe. According to Harvard School of Public Health, food system is defined as “all the elements and activities that relate to production, processing, distribution, preparation, and consumption of food.” So what does it mean to create a sustainable food system? The Agriculture Organization of the United Nations defines a sustainable food system as one that “delivers food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social, and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised.”

In the article linked below from the International Monetary Fund, the authors share why now, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it is even more crucial that we work as a society to rebuild our food systems in a sustainable way. More importantly, they argue, that now is the perfect time to do so as we simultaneously work to rebuild our economies. The article outlines four key components that must be in place for a sustainable food system to function: resilient food supply chains, healthy diets, regenerative farming, and conservation. Read the article to discover more about sustainable food systems.

To learn more about the Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program, visit smu.edu/socialenterprise. For more case studies and examples, stay tuned to the Hunt Institute Digest.