Engineering and computer science students tackle real-world social justice issues such as solving transportation and food equity and advancing women’s rights in Cal State Fullerton’s first ever Engineering Social Justice: Design Challenge. It is working.
Led by eight faculty members from the School of Engineering and the School of Computer Science, 15 student teams (69 students total) will pitch their ideas in the competition on March 16th. Students are challenged to identify social problems and conceptualize solutions.
Each team will make a five-minute pitch presentation using PowerPoint slides to a panel of industry and faculty judges. The industry judge is Xyla Foxlin, an engineer, entrepreneur, and YouTuber. Joshua Rojo, structural engineer with Degenkolb Engineers. and Joshua Caleb Dy, a software engineer at Google.
“Engineers and computer scientists need the training and skills to design and create solutions that do not disproportionately harm disadvantaged and underrepresented communities,” said Christian Kolozvary, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. I believe I have it.” “As builders of society, we want to contribute to solving social justice issues.”
Kolozvari, Garrett Struckhoff, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Paul Salvador Inventado, assistant professor of computer science, are the organizers of the contest.
This project is funded by the Scott-Jewett Fund for Student Success and Innovation. The University receives a historic $40 million gift from Mackenzie Scott and Dan Jewett to fund projects focused on student success and innovation with a social justice perspective . The “Engineering Social Justice: A Design Challenge” project received $60,600 in funding.
Judges will select the top three student and faculty projects, and these teams will receive seed funding ranging from $2,00 to $6,000 to develop their ideas to the next level.
“The types of ideas students propose are similar to what they will be working on in their future careers,” Inventado said. “Students are asked to consider all aspects of the problem, including its engineering, social, and economic implications.”
Engineers and computer scientists can build tools, applications and processes that elected officials and social scientists use to positively impact people’s lives, faculty organizers said.
“We want to ensure that future engineers and computer scientists consider the impact of solutions on all stakeholders, without bias against particular groups,” Strakhoff said. states. “Through this project, we hope students will learn the importance of considering equity when designing solutions, rather than thinking about the problem after they have built the solution.”