Development Engineering

MDevEng students Kemmy Rai and Noam Anglo are using their personal experiences with natural disasters to address climate vulnerabilities in Nepal and the Philippines. Highlighting global climate disparities and the urgent need for early warning infrastructure, their work includes projects like Anglo’s BahaWatch—a low-cost, community-maintained flood-sensing network designed for disaster-prone areas.

After MDevEng students visited Navajo Tech University for projects expanding NTU’s business and AI offerings, their NTU collaborators visited Berkeley to learn more about the university’s STEM and entrepreneurship activities.

Following federal cuts to global aid programs, DevEng PhD students are researching alternative hybrid funding models to sustain critical humanitarian projects. Simultaneously, these students are advocating for privacy-by-design safeguards to prevent AI-driven poverty relief systems from inadvertently harming vulnerable communities.

A new member of the Graduate Group in Development Engineering, Ceferino and his team move in after disasters, working on the ground to understand how and why infrastructure fails — and how governments can build city systems that are better equipped to withstand the next one.

“The gift of Development Engineering, to me, is learning to think about the technical and the human in the same hand,” commencement speaker Pratiyush Singh told his peers and their guests. “I leave with a way of seeing: one that showed me that who I am and what I want to do are not competing worlds, but the same story.”

Together, the cohort brings experience spanning data science, medicine, material science, policy, and more, and will spend the next 15 months in an intensive program that blends technical training with human-centered development courses — preparing them for careers in social impact, entrepreneurship, design, and sustainability.

World Water Week is an annual conference and global observance focused on tackling the world’s most pressing water-related challenges — urging policymakers and innovators to take bold action on sustainable solutions. This year’s theme, “Water for Climate Action,” highlights the essential role that water plays in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to a changing climate.

Ekta Raghuwanshi and Maria Denna, her MDevEng classmate, worked at A Better Education Club as part of an internship pilot program that DevEng and ABE Club look to expand in the coming years. The organization, based in Kenya’s southwestern region of Kasigau, supports youth education and women’s empowerment by focusing on health, food security, hygiene, and farming practices.

At Berkeley’s 2024 Master of Development Engineering commencement, graduates like Tilti Thind and Excellence Joshua celebrated transformative journeys. Their capstone projects and unwavering commitment embodied Berkeley’s spirit of radical change. Amid challenges and sacrifices, they emerged as determined changemakers ready to address global inequality and build sustainable, equitable futures worldwide.