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.
Featured Article
Development Engineering
News
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.
All Articles
News
Maria Artunduaga, a Colombian-born translational physician and entrepreneur, embraces her experiences with racial and gender bias as motivation rather than obstacles. Driven to close gender and racial gaps, especially in Silicon Valley, she channels her journey into empowering others and fostering inclusivity in the tech and innovation sectors.
News
Darryl Diptee, a former U.S. Navy officer, once considered himself a "closet innovator," constrained by a culture discouraging creativity. That changed in 2018 when he began his Ph.D. in Education at UC Berkeley, an environment that encouraged thinking outside the lines and embracing innovation as a core principle.
News
The Big Ideas Contest has been named one of four university social innovation competitions to be a part of The 2019-2020 Rockefeller Foundation-Acumen Student Social Innovation Challenge.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter!
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on the latest news and articles from the Blum Center.
By clicking Subscribe you’ll receive occasional emails from the Blum Center. You can unsubscribe at anytime.
News
Shankar Sastry, Faculty Director of the Blum Center at UC Berkeley, emphasizes fostering lifelong learning by adapting pedagogy to students' evolving needs. In his robotics course, recorded lectures allow self-paced learning, transforming faculty into knowledge guides. Sastry highlights engaging curiosity through interdisciplinary classes and supporting students’ personal growth through reflective conversations and leadership workshops.
News
The Blum Center reached out to Karla Tlatelpa and Leilani Gutierrez-Palominos to ask how the Global Poverty & Practice minor helped shape their understanding of and participation in the medical field.
News
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a grant to Berkeley in July 2019 to support the scaled-up production of the LoaScope, a mobile phone-based microscope developed by Blum Center Chief Technologist Daniel Fletcher and researchers in his bioengineering laboratory, to enable mapping of Loa loa prevalence and intensity in Central and West Africa.
News
Christelle Rohaut, a master’s student at UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, was inspired to address the lack of affordable and flexible workspaces in 2016. Observing crowded coffee shops and empty living rooms during her daily commute, she identified an opportunity to bridge the gap between isolation at home and expensive co-working spaces.
News
A delegation of Pinoleville Pomo Nation and Santa Clara Tribe students visited UC Berkeley as part of a summer STEAM program. Highlights included hands-on learning in maker labs and emotional moments engaging with Pomo artifacts at the Hearst Museum. The visit aimed to inspire Native youth to pursue higher education and connect with their cultural heritage.
News
The Blum Center’s Faculty Salons explored interdisciplinary approaches to development challenges during the 2018-2019 academic year. From AI and automation to rural electrification and climate change, UC Berkeley professors debated solutions for global issues. These discussions emphasized the importance of technological innovation, policy design, and equitable implementation for sustainable progress.
News
How do you become a social entrepreneur? The question has been the subject of many articles, books, and TED talks. For applicants to the Big Ideas social innovation contest, however, the answer is fairly simple: motivation and mentorship.
Development Engineering
News
The Development Engineering PhD designated emphasis at UC Berkeley integrates technology, interdisciplinary collaboration, and social impact to address global poverty. Recent graduates' research includes projects on cookstove efficiency, nitrogen recovery, LED lifecycle management, and fluoride removal. The program trains scholars to create scalable, sustainable solutions for underserved communities worldwide.
News
Recent research from UC Berkeley economists Ted Miguel and Catherine Wolfram challenges the assumption that rural electrification is a straightforward pathway out of poverty. A multi-year randomized control trial in Kenya revealed limited socioeconomic benefits from subsidized electricity connections, citing high costs, unreliable grid service, and low appliance usage as barriers.
News
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.
News
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.
News
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.
News
After a semester studying housing, transit and other issues plaguing the Bay Area, a group of UC Berkeley students has some unexpected solutions. Free buses, anyone? How about a podcast on homelessness?
Big Ideas
News
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.
News
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.
News
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.