While the field of Global Health seeks to address the drivers and outcomes of well-being for international populations from a medical or epidemiological perspective, Global Health Engineering addresses determinants of health as a function of engineered interventions and systems. Our work looks at ways of reducing the negative impacts of modern life, particularly in urban areas of over-exploited countries. Our research seeks to reduce the negative impacts of improperly managed human, organic, and anthropogenic waste while ensuring that solutions are affordable, effective, and acceptable to users.
Methodologically, we rely on the fundamental tools of engineering to develop and optimize technology, social science to understand the perceptions and behaviours of populations regarding interventions, and economics to determine financial feasibility and user acceptance.
Cross-cutting all of our work are three core principles: How and why failure has occurred in the past is the foundation of our decision to develop or not develop something new; by adopting open science principles, we are committed to ensuring that our research is reproducible, transparent and reusable for the greatest possible impact. Most importantly, we acknowledge the historical inequalities of international research and strive to understand, implement, and contribute to anti-colonial principles within Global Health Engineering in all of our work.
Transparency in grading and expectations towards students is crucial for their success and for academic fairness. At Global Health Engineering, we took this labour-consuming step to provide students with all the necessary information before they commit to a project with us. The result: they are provided with clear guidelines and rubrics for multiple aspects of academic work.
Reflecting on a transformative year at the Chair of Global Health Engineering, Mian Zhong shares her journey from a new graduate to a data scientist in the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) sector.
Black carbon in the atmosphere contributes to climate change and is a known carcinogen. Yet, this pollutant remains largely unmonitored and unregulated. Despite its dangers, there are no guidelines on safe levels of black carbon in the air we breathe. It’s time to focus on establishing effective regulations to monitor and control black carbon concentrations in the atmosphere.
