Engineering Internships in Social Entrepreneurship:  Developing Partnerships and Student Perspectives

Camilla M. Saviz; Abel A. Fernandez; Elizabeth A. Basha; Andria Patricia Ellis; Kristina Hammarstrom; Feliciano Leon; Jerry Bruce Hildebrand; Spencer Ton

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Vancouver, BC
Publication Date: June 26, 2011
Start Date: June 26, 2011
End Date: June 29, 2011
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Enhancing Instructional Effectiveness in Civil Engineering: Case Studies
Tagged Division: Civil Engineering
Page Count: 12
Page Numbers: 22.596.1 - 22.596.12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--17877
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/17877
Download Count: 350

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Camilla M. Saviz University of the Pacific

visit author page

Camilla M. Saviz is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of the Pacific. She received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University, an M.B.A. from the New York Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Davis in the area of hydrodynamic and water quality modeling. She joined the University of the Pacific in 1999 and is a registered Professional Engineer in California. Her current research interests include sustainable engineering and engineering education.

visit author page

biography

Abel A. Fernandez University of the Pacific

visit author page

Abel Fernandez is Professor and Director of the Engineering Management Program at the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California. He holds the Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida, M.E. and B.S. degrees in Electric Power Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and an M.B.A. also from RPI.

Dr. Fernandez has over 13 years of system engineering and project management experience with TRW, Inc. and the Harris Corporation. His final position at Harris was Director of Product Marketing, a executive level position in which he was responsible for all applications engineering and strategic planning for the Controls Division of the Harris Corporation, a Division with over U.S.$60 million (then dollars) in annual sales.

He joined the University of the Pacific in 2000 and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. His present research interests are principally in multidisciplinary engineering education, and engineering economic analysis.

visit author page

biography

Elizabeth A. Basha University of the Pacific

visit author page

Elizabeth A. Basha is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of the Pacific. She received a S.M. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from the University of the Pacific. Her Ph.D. research focused on distributed event prediction on sensor networks, especially the application of river flood prediction in Honduras. Her current research interests include sensor networks, event prediction, renewable energy, and international development.

visit author page

biography

Andria Patricia Ellis University of the Pacific, School of Engineering and Computer Science

visit author page

I am a senior civil engineering and geology student at University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA, and plan to graduate in May 2011. My motivation to pursue these technical degrees is fueled by my goals to provide real solutions to real problems through the development and implementation of stable and secure technologies that may help improve lives and the environment. While maintaining an attitude of optimism
and levity, I believe in taking risks that have the potential for character building and personal growth. I also strive to continually develop as an individual, professional, student, family member, and friend. I was a participant in the Ambassador Corps Fellowship program through University of the Pacific's Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship and spent three months during the summer of 2010 in Bangalore, India, assisting with housing and sanitary infrastructure projects for the urban poor. In my spare time, I enjoy ultra-light backpacking, playing old-time fiddle, journaling, creating wheel-thrown ceramics, exercising, shooting firearms, traveling, and spending time with my family.

visit author page

author page

Kristina Hammarstrom

biography

Feliciano Leon

visit author page

Feliciano Leon is a civil engineer with B.S. and M.S. degrees from University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. Last summer he devoted over two months working for an international organization dedicated to improving drinking water quality. He conducted interviews and a needs assessment in rural parts of Bolivia with the ultimate goal of identifying best engineering and management practices. He also has work experience with the City of Stockton Public Works Department, where he reviewed improvement plans to ensure compliance with city standards and regulations. He firmly believes that engineers have a civic duty to help their communities thrive by ensuring access to safe and reliable drinking water, structurally sound buildings, and other crucial engineering solutions.

visit author page

author page

Jerry Bruce Hildebrand

author page

Spencer Ton

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

Engineering Internships in Social Entrepreneurship: Developing Partnerships and Student PerspectivesAbstractThe School of LMN and the XYZ Center at the University of 123 are collaborating to providesocial entrepreneurship summer internships for engineering students. Social entrepreneurshipapplies business principles to ventures focused on solving social problems and has traditionallyheld greater appeal for international relations and business majors than for engineers. Partneringwith an existing social entrepreneurship internship program, this collaboration specifically seeksto involve engineering students in meaningful experiences abroad. This paper describes theinternship program and the experiences of three students over Summer 2010.The XYZ Center is a multi-disciplinary center providing students with hands-on projects andleadership opportunities in social entrepreneurship. The summer internship program seeks toprovide a rich experience for participants and to raise awareness of social entrepreneurshipwithin the student community. These opportunities allow students to learn first-hand thatsuccessfully implementing projects in emerging countries requires strong technical skills and afundamental understanding of local conditions. A project’s long-term success hinges on thedesigner’s understanding of local cultural, political, and contextual factors.During Summer 2010, two undergraduate engineering students and one graduate student fromthe University of 123 held internships working for social entrepreneurial organizations abroad. 㾛㾛혠 臈㈀ Civil Engineering undergraduate AE worked with ABC in Bangalore, India, where sheperformed population surveys of slum inhabitants and electronically mapped slum boundaries.She used these data to design a database that tracks slum boundaries and populationcharacteristics to facilitate micro-financing and infrastructure development within the slums.KH, an Engineering Management undergraduate student, spent eight weeks with DEF inNamibia. Her duties included tourism data analysis, goat cheese business planning, cheetah care,and analysis of production methods for ‘bushblok’, a fuel log produced using an invasive thornbush that poses a threat to wildlife. She proposed processes to improve efficiency andproductivity for bushblok production. FL, a Civil Engineering graduate student, worked withGHI in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where he helped plan and coordinate an international conference oncommunity water management programs. His duties included gathering information on waterquality and water infrastructure needs in small communities and identifying potentialcollaborative partners for regional community water organizations.The students were able to apply their technical skills towards gathering, collating, and analyzingdata. More importantly, they were required to apply general problem-solving skills inenvironments where language, culture, technical support and supervision were very differentfrom levels experienced during more ‘traditional’ internships with engineering firms in theUnited States. Students specifically cited understanding the role of engineering in a broadersocietal context as an invaluable lesson learned from their experience, and in all cases, theexperiences affirmed their decision to pursue engineering.Processes used to develop partnerships with social entrepreneurial organizations, fund students’travel, and prepare students for their experiences are described in the paper. Additionally,students’ experiences and skills developed during the internships are discussed and areas forimprovement are suggested based on students’ post-trip reflections.

Citation
Format

Saviz, C. M., & Fernandez, A. A., & Basha, E. A., & Ellis, A. P., & Hammarstrom, K., & Leon, F., & Hildebrand, J. B., & Ton, S. (2011, June), Engineering Internships in Social Entrepreneurship: Developing Partnerships and Student Perspectives Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--17877

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -                   Engineering Internships in Social Entrepreneurship:                   Developing Partnerships and Student PerspectivesAbstractThe School of LMN and the XYZ Center at the University of 123 are collaborating to providesocial entrepreneurship summer internships for engineering students. Social entrepreneurshipapplies business principles to ventures focused on solving social problems and has traditionallyheld greater appeal for international relations and business majors than for engineers. Partneringwith an existing social entrepreneurship internship program, this collaboration specifically seeksto involve engineering students in meaningful experiences abroad. This paper describes theinternship program and the experiences of three students over Summer 2010.The XYZ Center is a multi-disciplinary center providing students with hands-on projects andleadership opportunities in social entrepreneurship. The summer internship program seeks toprovide a rich experience for participants and to raise awareness of social entrepreneurshipwithin the student community. These opportunities allow students to learn first-hand thatsuccessfully implementing projects in emerging countries requires strong technical skills and afundamental understanding of local conditions. A project’s long-term success hinges on thedesigner’s understanding of local cultural, political, and contextual factors.During Summer 2010, two undergraduate engineering students and one graduate student fromthe University of 123 held internships working for social entrepreneurial organizations abroad.                                                㾛㾛혠 臈 ㈀ Civil Engineering undergraduate AE worked with ABC in Bangalore, India, where sheperformed population surveys of slum inhabitants and electronically mapped slum boundaries.She used these data to design a database that tracks slum boundaries and populationcharacteristics to facilitate micro-financing and infrastructure development within the slums.KH, an Engineering Management undergraduate student, spent eight weeks with DEF inNamibia. Her duties included tourism data analysis, goat cheese business planning, cheetah care,and analysis of production methods for ‘bushblok’, a fuel log produced using an invasive thornbush that poses a threat to wildlife. She proposed processes to improve efficiency andproductivity for bushblok production. FL, a Civil Engineering graduate student, worked withGHI in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where he helped plan and coordinate an international conference oncommunity water management programs. His duties included gathering information on waterquality and water infrastructure needs in small communities and identifying potentialcollaborative partners for regional community water organizations.The students were able to apply their technical skills towards gathering, collating, and analyzingdata. More importantly, they were required to apply general problem-solving skills inenvironments where language, culture, technical support and supervision were very differentfrom levels experienced during more ‘traditional’ internships with engineering firms in theUnited States. Students specifically cited understanding the role of engineering in a broadersocietal context as an invaluable lesson learned from their experience, and in all cases, theexperiences affirmed their decision to pursue engineering.Processes used to develop partnerships with social entrepreneurial organizations, fund students’travel, and prepare students for their experiences are described in the paper. Additionally,students’ experiences and skills developed during the internships are discussed and areas forimprovement are suggested based on students’ post-trip reflections.
AU  - Camilla M. Saviz
AU  - Abel A. Fernandez
AU  - Elizabeth A. Basha
AU  - Andria Patricia Ellis
AU  - Kristina Hammarstrom
AU  - Feliciano Leon
AU  - Jerry Bruce Hildebrand
AU  - Spencer Ton
CY  - Vancouver, BC
DA  - 2011/06/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Engineering Internships in Social Entrepreneurship:  Developing Partnerships and Student Perspectives
UR  - https://strategy.asee.org/17877
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--17877
ER  -