IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2017 - 57

Innovators are increasingly focusing on intersections (nexuses) like
the water-food-energy nexus or the
terrorism-trafficking-climate change
nexus. For example, Tyler Valiquette, 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
∕

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

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 interventions 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

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2017