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INNOVATION CHRONICLE
MAY 2019
Congratulations Graduates of the
Global Poverty & Practice Minor!
F E A T U R E D
A Year of Solutions Science and Scholarship at the Blum Center 
Faculty Director Shankar Sastry's interdisciplinary faculty salons explored large development questions, to bolster what we know and how we learn from each other.
Mentorship and Motivation Spurred 2019 Big Ideas Contest Winners
Big Ideas brought together over 400 judges and mentors—from six continents—to support a record number of social innovation students from 10 universities.
The Role of Data Science and Machine Learning to Combat Human Trafficking
Can AI help prevent child exploitation and combat human trafficking? It already is, according to experts who spoke to the Anti-Trafficking Coalition, a Blum Center IdeaLab.
Power Isn't Water: Learning from Kenya's Rural Electrification Efforts
Ted Miguel, Oxfam Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics, and Catherine Wolfram, Cora Jane Flood Professor of Business Administration, reported on their policy-shaping findings from a multi-year study of of rural electrification in Kenya.

Development Engineering Alumni Doing High Impact Work
Now in its fifth year, the Development Engineering program is producing a wide range of scholarship with and for low-income communities, and its graduates have gone on to positions in academia, industry, the nonprofit sector, and their own enterprises.

Configurable Microfactories: Autodesk’s San Francisco Technology Center
At Autodesk's Pier 9, Blum Center graduate students explored the future of sustainable design and new frontiers of the built environment, thanks to support from the Autodesk Foundation. 

From Bean to Cup: Anti-Trafficking IdeaLab Develops App for Ethically Sourced Coffee
Coffee is one of the most notorious industries for human rights abuses. That’s why the Berkeley Coffee Project is empowering and educating students about labor practices connected to this everyday purchase.

I N   T H E   N E W S

In this College Class, the Assignment Is to Solve a Local Problem
Fast Company reports on how the Blum Center’s Hacking for Local course enabled students to learn what people need fixed in their city and find community-driven solutions. Hacking for Local also received coverage in the East Bay Times, San Jose Mercury News, and ABC News.

David Zilberman elected to National Academy of Sciences
David Zilberman, Robinson Chair in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, was recognized by the National Academy of Sciences for developing economic models to understand fundamental problems in agriculture, economics, and policy.

Big Ideas Winners Raise $1.7 million in Seed Capital to Stop Workplace Harassment
Sabrina Atienza and George Ramonov's Valued received $1.7 million in seed capital led by BootstrapLabs. The startup’s mission is to provide companies with the AI-driven tools they need to stop inappropriate behavior, bias, bullying, and discrimination.

Professor Michael Ranney and InFEWS Fellow Leela Velautham in Frontiers in Communications
New research published by Education and Development Engineering Professor Michael Ranney and InFEWS Fellow Leela Velautham in Frontiers in Communications shows the impact of communicating sea level rise information.

Ryan Shelby Is a Finalist for the Federal Service to America Medal
Ryan Shelby, who graduated in 2013 with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and is now a USAID Foreign Service Engineering Officer in Haiti, has been nominated for the “Oscars of government service.” You can vote for Dr. Shelby by following this link.

"The Blum Center for Developing Economies may well be the finest program of its kind in the world. It turns out legions of young graduates who are well prepared with expertise, humility, purpose, and a pragmatic optimism for combating poverty in the US and globally."

Jimmy Carter
Former US President and Blum Center Honorary Trustee
Visit our website for more!
Copyright © 2019 Blum Center for Developing Economies, All rights reserved.


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