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SIA, Center for Global Studies to host collaboration with Uganda

For several years, teams of Penn State students and researchers have worked to design structures, a social networking system, agricultural devices, and even a solar dryer for people in the developing world. Now, thanks to the newly established Center for Global Studies, the School for International Affairs is providing an opportunity to ground-test these technologies via live videoconference with colleagues at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. In cooperation with the World Bank and the Global Knowledge Initiative, the School of International Affairs will present the first ever "From Lab to the Field: Putting Penn State's Innovations to Work to Solve Real World Challenges" at 8 a.m. on April 22, 118 Lewis Katz Building Auditorium, University Park campus. The public is welcome.

“The focus of this event will be on interaction with African colleagues,” said event organizer Professor Caroline Wagner of the School of International Affairs. “This event will be of interest to engineers, scholars of international affairs, economists and, of course, those who are interested in solutions for the developing world,” said Wagner, a researcher of science and technology and its relationship to innovation, policy and society.

The first session of the day will center on "Essential Design for Extreme Affordability," a project that Professor Khanjan Mehta spearheaded with his students, including students in the School of International Affairs.
 
“It's our responsibility to educate the next generation of entrepreneurial global citizens who can make the world a fairer place, friendlier place, a more sustainable place,” said Professor Mehta in a recent interview with WPSU's program Global Penn State. Mehta has led multiyear research efforts into an affordable greenhouse, solar dryer, and technologies used in telemedicine.
 
Professor Gregory R. Ziegler of the Department of Food Science, College of Agricultural Sciences, will present the second panel, “Community Kitchen and Small Scale Entrepreneurs in Food Manufacturing,” a project undergoing design work in Ethiopia.
 
The final panel is “Plasticulture, Plastifuels, and High Tunnels: Waste plastics as fuel” presented by James Garthe, instructor of agricultural engineering, and William Lamont, professor of vegetable crops, both from the College of Agricultural Sciences.
 
The 8 a.m. event time ensures a daytime link with Uganda.

Last Updated July 22, 2015

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