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Stories of Impact and Change
At the Blum Center for Developing Economies, we are driven by a shared mission: to innovate, inspire, and empower solutions that tackle global poverty. Explore our latest stories, ground-breaking research, and impactful programs that bridge the gap between theory and action.
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Development Engineering
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Every summer, UC Berkeley’s Development Engineering students create global social impact. The 2024 DevEng Photography Contest showcased their work, highlighting projects from digital education in Kenya to climate justice in Nigeria. Winning submissions emphasized human-centered technology, community-driven financial practices, and sustainable development, capturing innovation and resilience through powerful visual storytelling.
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A visit to Autodesk's Technology Center at Pier 9 revealed how the company integrates advanced manufacturing tools and sustainability strategies into innovative design processes. Blum Center-affiliated students explored technologies like generative design and carbon calculators, learning about Autodesk’s efforts to reduce environmental impact and foster collaboration in sustainable design projects.
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The Anti-Trafficking Coalition at Berkeley hosted a panel on using AI and machine learning to combat human trafficking. Experts highlighted how algorithms detect vulnerabilities and expedite case handling, reducing backlog times from 30 days to 24 hours. They stressed the importance of inclusive datasets and encouraged students to contribute their technical skills to this vital human rights effort.
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How do you convince people to drive less? When a team of University of California-Berkeley students considered the problem in the city of Berkeley–where traffic is increasing despite the city’s reputation as a bastion of progressive politics–they focused on how to improve the experience of riding the bus.
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Big Ideas
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The Big Ideas Contest at UC Berkeley was launched in 2006 to democratize entrepreneurship and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration among students. By supporting a diverse network of innovators from all academic fields, the contest aimed to break traditional boundaries and foster holistic solutions to global challenges.
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The Berkeley Coffee Project, under the Blum Center-sponsored Anti-Trafficking Coalition, empowers students to make ethical coffee choices through its "Conscious Coffee" app. Led by Global Studies senior Sophia Arce, the app helps users find ethically sourced coffee near UC Berkeley while educating on labor practices. With plans for rewards features, it aims to make ethical choices accessible to all.
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The Hacking4Local course at UC Berkeley empowers students from diverse disciplines to tackle complex social issues in Oakland, such as affordable housing and equitable health access. Through interviews, community engagement, and interdisciplinary collaboration, students design real-world solutions while gaining professional skills in teamwork, communication, and navigating ambiguity.
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A Blum Center Faculty Salon analyzed the challenges faced by NextDrop, a mobile intervention for water delivery notifications in India. Despite early success, its scaled operations in Bangalore showed minimal impact on household welfare due to inaccuracies from valvemen and cultural barriers. Professors Isha Ray and Alison Post emphasized the importance of human intermediaries in development interventions.
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Higher education is evolving, driven by STEM advancements that transform society. The Blum Center explores equipping development professionals with interdisciplinary skills like technology management, evidence-based assessment, and cross-cultural collaboration. As global challenges grow complex, integrating STEM with social sciences and humanities is crucial for societal impact. Share your thoughts on shaping this future-focused training.
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According to a UC Global Food Initiative report, 44% of UC undergraduates face food insecurity, and 5% experience homelessness, a figure that doubles at UC Berkeley due to the Bay Area's high cost of living. At a Blum Center event, experts discussed addressing these intersecting challenges through holistic wellness and collaborative support for students and staff.
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The use of machine learning in poverty alleviation offers exciting potential but also raises significant challenges, according to Joshua Blumenstock of UC Berkeley. At a Blum Center Faculty Salon, he highlighted how big data, such as mobile phone and satellite imagery, can provide cost-effective insights for development. However, issues like biased algorithms, over-reliance on digital credit, and socio-cultural complexities demand careful integration of social sciences with machine learning to ensure equitable outcomes.
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The 25 students enrolled in UC Berkeley’s newest class are shooting for more this semester than a good grade. In addition to earning an “A,” they intend to help solve the Bay Area’s housing shortage, prevent wildfires in the East Bay hills and slow climate change.
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Kara Nelson, a UC Berkeley professor of civil and environmental engineering, has dedicated her career to solving global water and sanitation challenges. By championing "aspirational technology" and interdisciplinary approaches, she develops innovative, sustainable solutions for low-resource settings while mentoring the next generation of development engineers tackling critical infrastructure and environmental crises.
Big Ideas
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In July 2014, a series of natural gas explosions ripped apart Kaohsiung, a Taiwanese city where Po Jui “Ray” Chiu, MEng ’14 (BIOE) had lived with relatives just a year before, while he was completing his compulsory military service.
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When Maria Artunduaga won a University of California award in 2017 for her team’s technology to manage pulmonary disease, she noted a critical factor in the victory: contest-organized mentorship from Jocelyn Brown with the Rice 360˚ Institute for Global Health.
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Education technology (edtech) holds immense potential to improve global education access and quality. However, as explored in the Berkeley Education Initiative for Development panel, thoughtful implementation is critical. Panelists emphasized the need to integrate tech within local contexts, prioritize teaching over tools, and focus on human support systems to ensure edtech’s effectiveness in resource-poor settings.
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In 2018, the world saw over half its population join the middle class and a billion people rise out of extreme poverty since 2000. This milestone raises critical questions about sustaining progress in Asia and addressing concentrated poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, where targeted investments in education and health are deemed crucial for future growth.
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Will Tarpeh, Stanford professor and UC Berkeley alum, discusses how Development Engineering shaped his work in ecological sanitation and resource recovery. Combining electrochemical engineering with fieldwork in Kenya, Tarpeh emphasizes iterative design and community engagement to address global sanitation challenges. He advocates for inclusivity and sustainability in STEM to create impactful solutions.
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Siddharth Kara’s report Tainted Garments documents the plight of Indian home-based garment workers earning as little as $0.13/hour. Over 99% lack minimum wages, with 42% starting as children. Research Fellow Siddharth Kara urges brands to improve transparency and worker rights to break cycles of poverty and exploitation.
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At the Blum Center, Ann Mei Chang, former Chief Innovation Officer at USAID and author of Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good, shared strategies for maximizing social benefit. Drawing on examples like NexLeaf Analytics and Copia Global, Chang urged change-makers to set audacious goals, embrace iterative experimentation, and focus on solving problems, not clinging to solutions.