Graduate Research and Education for Appropriate Technology

尽管工程师和科学家自愿提供他们的技能来开发“适当技术”以解决人道主义问题（例如，发展中社会或贫穷社区的需要）的悠久传统，相对较少的人将他们的主要专业或学术活动导向这种工作。GREAT IDEA将进行研究，以确定可能解释这一现象的态度和环境。GREAT IDEA还将开发新的教育组件，以激励和培训研究生从事相关技术的分析、开发和实施方面的研究和职业。为了研究研究生和教师的态度，将制定一项详细的调查，并将在美国、波多黎各和西班牙的院校广泛分发。调查将要求受访者确定并评论他们如何看待他们的工作目的，他们在多大程度上作为“代理人”将他们的工作指导到他们选择的原因，以及他们是否倾向于或劝阻他们直接将他们的工作应用到适当的技术中。这项调查的目的是补充和扩展这一领域先前的研究。在教育方面，新的课程和研讨会将在研究者所在的机构——波多黎各大学mayag<e:1> ez分校（UPRM）开发和提供。这些课程和研讨会将针对研究生和高级本科生，并将提供与适当技术相关的问题，最佳实践和职业机会。学生将进行服务学习和参与性行动研究，包括论文，将服务于波多黎各和加勒比邻国的社区。为此目的，调查人员与下列组织建立了伙伴关系，以协助确定社区和适当的技术项目：中央大学/大学增加机会中心（CUA），该中心组织了从人权运动到为经济条件不利的学生服务的当地学校的推广活动；组织服务学习项目的社区发展大学研究所/社区发展大学研究所；以及协助海地可持续发展的青年海地。这个项目的成果将包括设计和开发一个网站，作为整个项目的门户；研究成果的发表和展示，包括工程师和科学家如何理解其工作目的的进一步见解；与适当技术有关的新研究生课程和讨论会，其材料将公开提供；并完成相应技术的直接服务学习和论文项目。更广泛地说，GREAT IDEA支持的活动将促进研究生和教师的自我反思，并将为希望为人道主义事业和适当技术提供专业和学术服务的工程师和科学家提供新的职业道路。此外，由于这些计划将在加勒比地区的社区进行并服务于这些社区，因此该计划将涉及并服务于西班牙、法国和土著/原住民后裔的人民和文化。

Despite a long tradition of engineers and scientists volunteering their skills to develop "appropriate technology" to address humanitarian concerns (e.g., needs of developing societies or poor communities), relatively few have oriented their primary professional or academic activities to such work. GREAT IDEA will conduct research to determine attitudes and circumstances that might explain this phenomenon. GREAT IDEA will also develop new educational components to inspire and train graduate students to pursue research and careers in the analysis, development, and implementation of appropriate technology.To research attitudes of graduate students and faculty, a detailed survey will be developed that will be widely circulated at institutions in the US, Puerto Rico, and Spain. The survey will ask respondents to identify and comment on how they perceive the purpose of their work, the degree to which they act as "agents" to direct their work to causes of their choosing, and their inclinations or dissuasions to apply their work directly in appropriate technology. The survey will be designed to complement and extend prior research in this area.Educationally, new courses and seminars will be developed and delivered at the investigator's home institution, the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez (UPRM). These courses and seminars will aimed at graduate students and advanced undergraduates, and will provide exposure to issues, best practices, and career opportunities related to appropriate technology. Students will conduct service learning and participatory action research, including theses, that will serve communities in Puerto Rico and neighboring countries in the Caribbean. Toward this end, the investigators have established partnerships with the following organizations to assist with identifying communities and appropriate technology projects: the Centro Universitario para el Access/University Center for Increased Access (CUA), which organizes outreach activities from UPRM to local schools that serve economically disadvantaged students; the Instituto Universitario para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades/University Institute for Community Development (IUDC), which organizes service learning projects; and YouthHaiti, which assists sustainable development in Haiti.Outcomes of this project will include the design and development of a website that will serve as a gateway to the entire project; the publication and presentation of research findings, including further insights as to how engineers and scientists understand the purpose of their work; new graduate level courses and seminars related to appropriate technology, the materials of which will be publicly available; and the completion of direct service learning and thesis projects in appropriate technology.More broadly, the activities supported by GREAT IDEA will foster self-reflection among graduate students and faculty, and will foster new career pathways for engineers and scientists who wish to devote their professional and academic services toward humanitarian causes and appropriate technology. Moreover, because the projects will occur in and serve communities in the Caribbean, this project will involve and serve peoples and cultures of Spanish, French, and native/aboriginal descent.