Engineering Careers in Social Innovation and Global ... - IEEE Xplore

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Khanjan Mehta Irena Gorski

Engineering Careers in Social Innovation and Global Sustainable Development

t is remarkably evident on a daily basis how much our world needs more effective, functional, and affordable solutions to social and environmental problems. Now, more than ever, we need students going into STEM careers — just ask LeBron James [1]. My academic program in Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) at Penn State brings together students and faculty from various disciplines to develop innovative and practical technologybased solutions to address socioeconomic challenges in developing countries. HESE students work with diverse partners to design innovative technology products and services that create and bolster livelihoods while addressing challenges like food security, energy poverty, and access to healthcare. They turn these products and services into independent self-sustaining enterprises that have the potential to scale to “multimillion smile enterprises.” HESE is one of many academic programs and professional/student organizations (like Engineers Without Borders) that enable science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students and professionals to develop the skillsets and mindsets necessary to launch entrepreneurial ventures as well as their careers in global sustainable development. After pursuing such intense and

Ben Edwards, USAID.

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USAID Sustainable Rural Development Center in Bas Boan, Haiti.

immersive experiences in academic settings, these passionate, hardworking students are often not excited to take up well-paying but conventional jobs in large organizations. They want to directly see the impact of their work rather than designing a widget in a cubi cle or becom-

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2017.2763454 Date of publication: 5 December 2017

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IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

ing another cog in the corporate wheel. The big question facing these students, their faculty advisors, and their parents is: what’s next? What are the career paths for students who want to employ their education and passion to directly and tangibly improve the human condition?

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To explore this question, I spent over three years interacting with hundreds of innovators working on a wide range of development challenges across diverse sectors and organizations in the United States and around the world. My editorial team and I turned this effort into a book, Solving Problems That Matter (and Getting Paid for It), which includes 54 expert briefs penned by leaders from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Peace Corps, M.I.T., Engineers Without Borders, American Academy for

The third goal of this project was to facilitate the recruitment and retention of women and underrepresented groups into the STEM fields. the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and many other esteemed organizations. In addition, 100 STEM innovators from the World Bank, UNICEF, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, and dozens of social ventures, government agencies, nonprofits, academic institutions, and corporations share their enlightening and inspiring profiles, including their current roles and responsibilities, career trajectories, and lessons learned along the way. The complete PDF of the book can be downloaded at http://goo.gl/ qAAT8c, and a 13-minute video summarizing the key messages can be found at https://www.youtube .com/watch?v=2haT4TgjR7o. Solving Problems That Matter (And Getting Paid For It) seeks to accomplish three things. The first

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goal of this book and the larger project was to educate students, parents, faculty, and career counselors about career pathways and strategies in social innovation and sustainable development. The second objective was to elucidate the “market pull” — the smorgasbord of opportunities available to students and young professionals who have participated in engaged scholarship and sustainable development programs. While many faculty members and administrators view programs like HESE as a mechanism to develop soft skills and assist in program accreditation, that is not why the program exists. HESE strives to address global development challenges while preparing a cadre of social innovators and sustainable development professionals for a rapidly-changing world. The career profiles in the book serve as a recruiting tool for academic, co-curricular, and professional development programs struggling to articulate their purpose and position themselves in their universities. The key message from these innovators is such programs are not and should not be about “students going to poor countries to save people,” but rather are rigorous, multidisciplinary, integrative programs that inspire students and faculty to work shoulder to shoulder with communities to develop extremely real and practical solutions that deliver social impact. Finally, the third goal of this project was to facilitate the recruitment and retention of women and underrepresented groups into the STEM fields. About half of the innovators profiled in the book are women, and many are from un derrepresented groups. Together they all bring to life the relevance and importance of STEM fields to IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

society. This narrative is perfectly aligned with the (U.S.) National Academy of Engineering’s “Changing the Conversation” mission of altering the perception of engineering to a caregiving profession vital to advancing the human condition. The world needs more effective, functional, and affordable solutions to social and environmental problems. Scientific and technological innovation continues to play a pivotal role in catalyzing new industries, spawning job growth, and improving the quality of life for people around the world. Scientific innovation has led to many of the biggest social impacts in human history in ways that are often taken for granted. Chlorination of drinking water, the development of oral rehydration therapy, solar energy, pasteurization, and many other technological innovations have changed the course of human history. My conversations with the innovators validated that the integration of science and technology-based approaches to address societal needs is clear and compelling. There is an urgent need to train and engage people from the engineering professions to venture into every kind of organization across every sector and every industry, from finance to healthcare to human rights. As scientists and engineers forge their way in the social innovation space, they are also creating paths for future innovators. This article shares five key insights relevant to engineers seeking impact-focused careers.

#1 So Many Challenges; So Many Approaches The sustainable development spa ce is often grouped into sectors such as water, energy, food security, health, education, and human rights. Despite this separation, challenges and solutions related to each sector are highly interconnected. ∕

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Innovators are increasingly focusing on intersections (nexuses) like the water-food-energy nexus or the terrorism-trafficking-climate change nexus. For example, Tyler Valiqu ette, a mechanical engineer by training, is innovating at the nexus of technology, business, and social/ environmental justice. As an independent designer and social impact consultant, he works with clients to develop practical, innovative, and context-appropriate water purifiers, farming tools, and improved cookstoves. He prefers to work collaboratively and often leads cross-disciplinary design teams comprised of people with varied skills, including industrial design, anthropology, engineering, graphic design, international development, and business. Engineering professionals like Tyler are valued in the sustainable development space for their ability to apply their engineering and product design expertise across sectors. There are a variety of approaches to address societal grand challenges — through policy modifications, advocacy, activism, educational interventions, technological tools, and business operations. Marketbased approaches involve direct action while advocacy and activism influence external stakeholders. Some approaches maintain the status quo, provide temporary solutions, or lead to incremental improvements while others are truly disruptive and transformative — solving the problem once and for all. Vineeth Vijayaraghavan, founder of the Solarillion Foundation, is striving to mainstream solar energy in India by combining his electrical engineering expertise with knowledge of regulatory regimes and socioeconomic challenges. He founded his own research, outreach, and educational organization that promotes the use of solar energy to diverse stakeholders while DECEMBER 2017

directly engaging college students in the process and providing them a transformative learning experience. Meanwhile, Alakesh Chetia leverages his electrical engineering expertise and contextual knowledge to lead Sun Edison’s Social Innovations business unit. This startup within a large corporation seeks to bring energy access to the 1.3 billion people in the developing world without access to electricity. Alakesh’s team understands the technological and business aspects of solar energy as well as the political and socio-cultural barriers to commercializing affordable solar products. What grand challenges are you most passionate about and what engagement approach fits your strengths and goals? Do you prefer taking direct action and seeing results first-hand or a more indirect approach that affects a broader audience through external stakeholders? You can work on a challenge through the United Nations, the national government, a regional nonprofit, a private sector actor, or one-on-one with rural communities — every approach is equally valuable. Innovations at higher levels of abstraction can have a much larger impact but are harder to assess, iterate, and implement. You might not even know if the approach is actually working! On the other end of the spectrum, working directly with people can give you immediate feedback and a firsthand view of the human impact, but that impact is constrained to a smaller population. Douglas Postels, an Associate Professor of Pediatric Neurology, spends several months each year in Malawi treating children with neurological issues. While in Malawi, Doug works at the country’s largest public hospital in a research unit focused on uncovering underlying causes and discovering new treatments for ∕


children in comas. He also treats neurologic disease through medication, rehabilitation, and physical therapy. On the other hand, Steve DeSandis, a mechanical engineer by training, prefers to tackle health issues in developing countries by working with broader systems. At the Clinton Health Access Initiative, he ensures the organization’s vaccines are distributed safely around the world. Vaccines are the most cost-effective preventive health in terventions in the world but are incredibly delicate biological cargo. Steve works with manufacturers of refrigerated vehicles to ensure the cold chain from central stores to facilities in Africa, Asia, and South America. While Doug works faceto-face with hundreds of patients, delivering high value to each one, Steve works behind-the-scenes to facilitate preventive healthcare for tens of thousands of people he will never meet. Addressing sustainable development challenges needs innovators at every level of abstraction, but aspiring social innovators need to decide which approach works best for them. Do you want to work with people or systems? How important is it for you to see the first-hand impact of your work on a regular basis versus reaching a large number of people?

#2 All Kinds of Organizations Have a Role to Play Students as well as professionals trying to chart the course of their career often ask: “What organization should I work for?” The innovators I interviewed taught me that the real questions we should be asking are: “What problems do I really care about? What problems do I really want to solve? Which organizations will offer me the best platform with the right tools, resources, and networks to address those problems? The global sustainable development

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space is full of a bewildering number of organizations from government agencies and nonprofits, to large corporations and startups, to a long list of emergent fourth sector organizations. These organizations have different kinds of resources and they pursue different approaches to effect social change. They comply with different legal, operational, and tax regimes across different countries. For those who want to work with larger systems, among the broadest actors are multilateral organi-

assistance following a disaster, promote human rights, and foster sustainable economic growth. Nonprofits represent an enormous force in the development sector, particularly as actors and executors of development. Nonprofits include nongovernmental organizations, foundations, most universities, public K-12 schools, professional organizations, catalyst and support organizations (such as impact investing firms), and certifying organizations (e.g., Fair Trade USA). However, some of the biggest players in socioeconomic development are actually for-profit organizations that prioritize financial returns but balance them with environmental and social bottom Nonprofits represent an enormous lines. For example, GE has a force in the development Global Research and Development Center that identisector, as actors and executors fies technologies in their portfolio that can address of development. unmet needs in developing countries at scale and then zations such as those in the United identifies partners who can bring Nations ecosystem. These organizacomplementary resources to bring tions can mobilize resources from a new products and services in the multitude of countries on a regional marketplace to address the probor global scale. For example, the lem. Campbell Soup Company has World Health Organization coma Corporate Social Responsib ility bats global disease and improves program to ensure that the compapublic health while UNICEF works ny is contributing positively to the specifically to improve the lives of world, socially and environmen children and mothers. Individual tally — including by sourcing only governments also play a variety of 100% sustainable palm that does not roles in international and domestic harm forest or peat lands and does development, including as fundnot invade indigenous species or peoing sources, executors, regulators, ple; making sure animals within their and arbitrators. For example, the supply chain are treated humanely; National Science Foundation in the and sourcing only tin that does not United States funds research in funsupport any continuation of exploitadamental science and engineering tion or war by way of conflict-mineral and supports the scientific innovamining from suppliers. tion ecosystem around the world. Finally, the “fourth sector” encapThe United States Agency for Intersulates a wide range of hybrid organational Development (USAID) funds nizations working at the intersection projects around the world working of the public (government), private to increase agricultural productiv(business), and social (nonprofit) secity, combat deadly diseases, provide tors. Organizations in this emergent

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sector prioritize social value while being increasingly independent of charitable donations. In this hybrid space, businesses take an active interest in delivering social and environmental value while governmental and nonprofit organizations operate in a more businesslike manner. Organizations in the fourth sector come in many different flavors and have many different names, including but not limited to social enterprises, blended value organizations, and public benefit corporations. For instance, Aravind Eye Hospitals are striving to eradicate cataract-related blindness in India. By operating with unparalleled efficiency and developing a sterling reputation, they are able to attract India’s more affluent clientele and use those funds to subsidize similar services for poorer customers. With this hybrid model of high-income customers proudly paying for people who cannot afford eye care, Aravind is able to eliminate needless blindness for millions of customers … without relying on charity. As a founding member of an offgrid energy startup to power the One Laptop per Child project, Mike Lin gained an intricate understanding of the enormity of the energy challenge in developing countries. Mike’s mechanical engineering background led him to the design ReadySet, a smart battery system charged by a solar panel that is designed to withstand harsh conditions like high temperature, overloads, and short circuits. His for-profit social enterprise, Fenix International, al lows customers to “lease to own” ReadySet solar systems via a mobileenabled payment plan. This marketcentric approach creates income generation and ent repreneurship opportunities in Uganda and other countries while reducing energy poverty with renewable energy. Every kind of organization has a role to play. Every organization has ∕

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its own effectiveness and impact. The public sector sets and enforces rules in order to maintain a level playing field and an enabling environment for all societal actors. The private sector produces and sells products and services that enhance our quality of life. Enterprises spur innovation and reward entrepreneurial efforts. The implicit incentive mechanism and market feedback system embedded in enterprises make them particularly suitable for investing, developing, and scaling practical, inclusive, and sustainable social innovations. Finally, the social sector safeguards inclusion and sustainability, builds the capacity of at-risk populations, and reduces investment risk for the private sector. A particularly important social subsector includes universities, think tanks, and research organizations that create and disseminate new knowledge for the benefit of all actors. Success is interdependent among all actors — innovations come from individuals, informal groups, and established organizations; they come from startups, large corporations, nonprofits, governmental agencies, and increasingly, at the intersection of these entities. And there is a need for innovators and problem-solvers in every single organization. All organizations have their uni que work culture. Innovators need to test drive as many platforms and find which (kinds of) organizations align with their values, worldview, and way of getting stuff done. For example, an electrical engineer by training but storyteller at heart, Chris Hsiung, did not find an organization doing what he wanted to do and so he started his own company called Hidden Story Productions. He educates people by telling the story of human achievements and failures through film and video. He helps clients use video as a tool to educate, engage, or advocate for social DECEMBER 2017

issues through short documentary stories and creative projects. Timothy Carter, an environmental engineer, applies his engineering skills to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene in sub-Saharan Africa. Tim draws his motivation for engaging in sustainable development challenges from his religion. Therefore, he prefers to work for an evangelical Christian aid organization, Samaritan’s Purse, whose values align with his religious beliefs. There are as many rationales for engagement as there are people and there are adequate platforms for every school of thought. Nature abhors a vacuum and the sustainable development ecosystem is always growing and evolving to address needs as they emerge.

#3 Essential Professional Competencies While most traditional jobs are ad vertised on companies’ websites and job search engines, most nontraditional jobs are not advertised but rather discovered, or even created, through extended networks. This is often because there are scarce resources and opportunities in the social sector and people are taking less risk if they can distribute them to people they trust. In addition to building your network to discover these opportunities, your portfolio of rigorous work in sustainable development will help you get the job in this highly competitive field. The majority of the innovators I interviewed had a graduate school education; some had earned their Ph.D.s or professional degrees like an M.D., M.B.A., M.P.H., or M.P.A. The majority of the innovators had leveraged fellowships and service opportunities like the Peace Corps, Teach for America, and Fulbright Scholarships. At the same time there were several innovators who decided not to pursue graduate school. ∕


Toby Cumberbatch and Pritpal Singh, both Professors of Electrical Engineering, penned an article on the pros and cons of pursuing a Ph.D. degree. They encourage young professionals to think through what they really want from their career and particularly whether they want to become subject matter experts. Good reasons to pursue a doctorate include wanting to learn in a focused, dedicated, disciplined manner; pursuing a career that requires a Ph.D.; desiring a fast track to a senior position; and wanting to build your network with researchers. However, Toby and Pritpal encourage you not to pursue a doctorate if you want to become an entrepreneur, be well compensated for your work, or if you already have in-demand technical skills or are already an exper t. Different roles and organizations need different educational levels, expertise, and prior experience. Some organizations do not care about educational qualifications as long as you can get the job done, while others have prescribed educational requirements for each role. For example, to become a professor at most universities or a research director for a nonprofit, you need to have a Ph.D., but to become a program director for a nonprofit or an engineer for an energy company, gaining more experience is often a better investment of your time than advanced graduate education. While the degree and experience appropriate for each platform varies, most sustainable development professionals we interviewed had a graduate education and in general recommended nine professional competencies: 1) oral and written communication skills; 2) k nowing multiple languages; 3) global competence; 4) empathy; 5) entrepreneurial mindset; 6) contextual understanding; 7) ethical decision-making; 8) resilience and adaptability; and

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9) teamwork skills. Across the hundreds of conversations, there was a consistent message that engineering education must evolve to engage engineers in experiential learning activities to develop these competencies. As over half of the innovators explained, students gain these competencies by applying what they learn in the classroom to realworld problems. Professionals can develop these competencies too, on the job or by going back to school. Steve Dennis, after working for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) for seven years, pursued a master’s degree in international relations. Although he already had the technical expertise from his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, he wanted to take a more direct role in implementing programs in low-resource contexts and so he went back to graduate school to build competencies in conflict management and resolution. Andreina Parisi-Amon, a biomedical engineer, originally wanted to become a teacher after earning her undergraduate degree, but she instead followed her dream of living in Italy and found a job working for a Health, Safety, and Environment Office in a locomotive factory. She gained a new set of competencies while building her portfolio, learning about a new industry, building her network, and traveling. While in Italy, she decided to go back to school to earn her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering. During grad school, she held a job on the side where she developed leadership curriculum at the elementary and high school levels, taught some of her curricula internationally through partnerships with the Department of State, and prepared others to teach these curricula to new audiences in Mexico. Andreina’s circuitous journey was personally and professionally fulfill-

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leverage your network for new insights and collaborators. Electrical engineer Frank Bergh has a day job with SoCore Energy, where he works at the systems level to oversee the design, installation, and interconnection of hundreds of solar energy systems every year. Thanks to his day job mostly keeping nine to five, Monday through Friday, business hours, he can spend many of his evenings and weekends with Engineers Without Borders designing renewable energy projects for Central America. He has worked with Engineers Without Borders since college and continues to grow his personal and professional network through his involvement. John Doe, an electrical engineering manager with the U.S. Government by day, goes on month-long service trips about every two years. By working for the government, he can save up enough vacation time and money to cover his expenses for his service trips. He has to carefully plan his work so he can trust his team to take over his responsibilities for a month while he is away constructing wells and fixing buildings abroad with faith-based organizations.

ing; she developed a wide array of skills and ultimately found her passion working for Coursera, a major player in the educational technology world, to democratize education for millions of people.

#4 Engagement Alongside Your Day Job While you may love your day job for the excellent pay, benefits, and coworkers you don’t want to give up, you know there’s something missing. Even as you volunteer in your spare time at the soup kitchen, you wonder if there is a better use of your time and abilities? You are an engineer and instead of making sandwiches and stuffing envelopes, you want to contribute your engineering expertise that you have honed over the years. Before you take the plunge by becoming the nonprofit’s webmaster, redesigning operations of the community health network, or teaching a course on constructing small bridges in developing countries at the local university, Harald Quintus-Bosz recommends you take a step back. He challenges you to think if you will be able to effectively manage your time between your two commitments without conflicts of interest and if you can afford the outof-pocket expenses for your volunteer work, especially over an extended period of time. The search for professional volunteering positions can be difficult but the local chapters of professional organizations like IEEE, educational institutions, local nonprofits and community centers, religious institutions, social enterprise networks, service clubs, and websites such as volunteermatch.org are all great places to start. Definitely check out if there is an IEEE Special Interest Group in Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT) chapter nearby, and if there isn’t one, you could help initiate one! As with any opportunity, take the time to research, reflect, and IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

#5 Compensation and Personal Considerations While nonprofit salaries are often lower, the lines between sectors are quickly blurring. There are talented and passionate people across all sectors and salaries of domain experts are often comparable. However, compensation, career advancement opportunities, and personal growth opportunities vary greatly between sustainable development jobs and it is important to investigate and weigh all of these in your career choices. Some jobs involve no travel while others may keep you traveling nonstop throughout the year. Travel might be paid for by the organization and include ∕

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perks like business-class flights, or you might be expected to cover travel expenses from your own salary. Engineers often worry about engaging in the social sector because they have traditionally commanded high salaries in the private sector. The salaries in the social innovation and sustainable development space are certainly very complex and complicated. It took me over a year to wrap my head around how salaries work! But here’s the bottom-line: the salaries of the innovators we interviewed ranged from $30,000 to $300,000, with a median salary of $80,000. STEM professionals can choose to focus their careers on creating societal value without compromising on their personal finances and quality of life. The other important thing I learn ed is that it is never too late to start or pivot into a career in sustainable development! Many innovators took several career pivots to end up where they are today. Take Kate Chapman, for example: after dropping out of high school and later college, she pivoted from working for a mosquito control company to earning her bachelor’s degree and eventually becoming the executive director of Humanitarian OpenStreetMap, which develops up-to-date maps for humanitarian response. Volunteers contribute to OpenStreetMap’s open-source project by surveying with global positioning systems (GPS), acquiring digital photographs of regions, and unifying existing public records of geographic data. Another innovator pivoted into a career in the social sector after working for several years at a civil engineering company. Aurora Sharrard returned to school to pursue a doctoral degree and eventually became the Vice President of Innovation at Green Building Alliance. Now she enjoys leading the Pittsburgh 2030

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District team, a collaborative local effort to create a community of highperformance buildings in Pittsburgh. If you cannot or do not want to leave your job within a conventional company, you can become an intrapreneur, someone developing entrepreneurial solutions within a large organization. Socially-conscious large corporations can be a great place to start a career because they can quickly achieve economies of scale with their tremendous resources. Right out of college, Steve Garguilo landed an entry-level job at Johnson & Johnson. He spent a year building credibility within the company by consistently delivering results and then used his leverage to acquire a position where he could work on what he truly cared most about: social innovation. He decided to become a maverick within the company and push for a more socially-aware agenda. He was pleased to find there was a huge appetite for corporate social responsibility within the corporation, and by showing passion and articulating his ideas well, Steve tailored a position to fit his desired role. Two years after joining the company, Steve moved to Switzerland and was the emerging-markets business lead for three years. Since then, he has moved back to the U.S., but now with enterprise-wide responsibility for instigating a culture of innovation as a Senior Manager of Creative Engagement. He has been building a culture of innovation by establishing a leadership development program to improve creativity and innovation skills; launching a nontraditional ideas to action platform that drives individual accountability around ideas; and creating a support network for his grassroots community of ambassadors around the world who aim to drive cultural change at their local Johnson & Johnson

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offices. Steve travels around the world and helps J&J employees and partners become more creative and increase their economic and societal impact.

Get Going Now! Can you have an impact wherever you are and in whatever you do? The short answer is, YES! No matter what, always: 1) conscientiously consider implications of your work on the economy, environment, and society; 2) make decisions that create win-win situations for everyone; and 3) measure your economic, environmental and social impact. If you can measure it, you can improve it. There is no one well-trodden path to a career in social innovation — everybody carves out their own unique journey. While careers share some commonalities, every innovator we interviewed and profiled had their own trajectory, pivots, and challenges. Your own personal and professional quest to improve the human condition is not a sprint on the running track; it is a marathon through the jungle. Get going!

Author Information Khanjan Mehta is Vice Provost for Creative Inquiry, Director of Mountaintop Initiative, at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. He is the Founding Director of the HESE Program at Penn State, and led it until Dec 2016. Irena Gorski is a Ph.D. student in the department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.

Reference [1] P. Coffee, “LeBron James and Adriana Lima tell kids to be scientists, not celebrities in Verizon spot,” AdWeek, Mar. 31, 2017; http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/ lebron-james-and-adriana-lima-tell-kids-to-bescientists-not-celebrities-in-verizon-spot.

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