Technology for Social Justice

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Crowdfunding

• Technology for Social Justice - BuckeyeFunder 

• Antiracist Technology Design Competition (Au20) - GoFundMe

Sponsorship Opportunities

Return on Investment

• Recruitment of OSU Engineering or Comp. Sci. Students: 

  
  • Undergraduate engineering students for 3-6mo internships, potential to hire them after graduation.
  • MS students can typically do a 3-mo internship (typically in the summer, and meeting visa requirements), potential to hire them after graduation.
  • PhD students possibly could do a 3-mo internship (typically in the summer, and meeting visa requirements), potential to hire them after graduation.
  • Post-doctoral researchers, potential to hire them after graduation if visa issues can be addressed.

Education and Training for Sponsors:

• One-hour talk and discussion on Antiracist Technology, typically to determine the level of interest in something longer.
• Workshops or short courses, tailored to the sponsor needs (e.g., per topic, length, and time). Typically these are 4 hrs to 2 days.
• Use of full course materials for, for example, Antiracist Technology (42 1 hr class sessions, on-line materials, discussion questions, etc.). Typically, 6 hrs/day, 7 days.
• Options include on-line synchronous or asynchronous (e.g., via Zoom) or in person provided that COVID-19 is under control.  A hybrid approach is typically best, with asynchronous viewing, then synchronous meetings periodically for discussion and questions.
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  OSU academic credit would not normally be offered, but a sponor would typically provide a "certificate of completion," especially if the training is appropriate as a a part of a company program on "Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion."

   

  STEM for Good, and the Bottom Line:

  

  A heavy emphasis in the educational and training programs outline above is the inclusion of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to:

• Make it central to what does not typically include any STEM.
• This approch then reaches out to the engineers and computer scientists by using their terminology and concepts.
• Also, it ensures more lasting change in the organization, and the technology products that are produced (e.g., to avoid "algorithmic bias" and "racial profiling" in software). Both improper previous technology designs, and innovation of new designs would be considered.
• These can strongly affect the bottom line, and help ensure mistakes are not made that lead to offensive/very serious software errors that can affect many people. 

   

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  Current Priorities

   

  Priority #1: Antiracist Technology

  Course development, research on more topics to be studied, development of mathematical and computational analyses of more components of antiracism, more

  

  homework problems. Development of on-line materials (let N=number of people):
  • Small: Fund N undergraduate research assistants, and N MS students for the STEM components (to be in their theses), especially to develop prototypes of Antiracist Technology.
  • Medium: As in "Small" but also with N PhD students, time for a Faculty supervisor/advisor.
  • Large: As in "Medium" but N Faculty, and support for undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships.
  • Research program development, human subjects testing, development of additional technologies (sensing methods, input modulation algorithms, on-line machine learning is one of our current approaches).  Have funding for mostly research on stress (e.g., a National Institutes of Health grant), and main need is for our work on depression so we can get closer to human subjects testing:
  • Small: N MS students (to be in their theses), especially to improve adaptive algorithms for feedback control of depression via frontal alpha asymmetry, and adaptive music modulation.
  • Medium: As in "Small" but also with N PhD students, time for a Faculty supervisor/advisor.
  • Large: As in "Medium" but N Faculty, and support for undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships.

• Priority #2: Humanitarian Engineering ("Antipoverty Technology")

  This education and research program needs support for the humanitarian engineering course, and corresponding textbook revisions, to incorporate racism and mental health issues. This requires:
• Small: Support for an undergraduate research assistant for 1 yr, hourly salary.
• Medium: Support for an graduate research assistant for 1 yr.

• Priority #3: Technology for Mental Health

Current and Past Sponsors

National Institutes of Health:

"Penetrating the classroom social network for children with language impairment via peer-mediated intervention,"  L. Justice, PI, 2020-2023

Battelle Engineering, Technology, and Human Affairs Endowment Awards:

• "Adaptive Ambience Technology in the Preschool Classroom for Children Exposed to Trauma," Passino, PI

• "MindUp! A Mental Health App to Support Homeless Youth’s Mental Health," Cash, PI

• “Engineering, Technology, Human Affairs, and Social Justice: From Columbus to Colombia,” (Passino, Anderson, Clapp, Moore, Wilson), 2014-2016

• “Engineers for Community Service: Model Programs for the Development of a Profession,” (Passino, Walker, Merrill, Lilly), 2005-2007.

Instititute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Foundation:

• IEEE is "the world's largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology."​

• “Globalizing Humanitarian Engineering Education,” 2015-2017.

Mathworks:

Support for course and textbook development via providing a wide range of software "Toolboxes," including for simulation and logistics.

OSU-Honda Partnership: 

Support for travel of ECOS members to do the first project at Montaña de Luz HIV/AIDS orphanage in 2005.

OSU Outreach and Engagement Office, Engagement Impact Grant:

“Creation of the Central Ohio Community Technology Clinic,” (Passino and Clapp), 2014-2016.

Dept. Electrical and Computer Engineering

College of Engineering

OSU Office of the Provost

• See also the "Racism," "Poverty," and "Mental Health" tabs for other funded programs.
  

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