Engineering a better world
Taken literally such a lever would be impractical, but engineers have the skills and knowledge needed to develop and apply technology that act as figurative levers to move the world in ways that dramatically help humankind.
One excellent example of that can be found in The Ohio State University alumnus Songsdhit “Joe” Chongsiriwatana, who is using his knowledge in the fight against modern-day slavery.
Chongsiriwatana clearly recalls the day he was tutoring a young girl in subtraction and addition.
“She asked me, ‘If a bad man stole your daughter from you and did bad things to her, what would you do?’ I felt such a deep sorrow to hear her question, because I knew she was asking from her personal experience. As a father of two girls, I could not even make myself comtemplate the possibility of them going through what this girl had to endure.”
Chongsiriwatana, who graduated with a MS in biomedical engineering in 1998 and a BS in electrical engineering in 1996, works with the organization ZOE to help save children from his native Thailand and other countries.
“I frequently apply engineering skills to help the organization accomplish its mission,” he said. “I also interact with orphans and survivors of child trafficking. Whenever I have the opportunity, I love to tutor them in math and science, help them with homework, or simply try to show them how science is exceedingly cool.”
In 2013, he was honored for his efforts by the College of Engineering with a Distinguished Alumni Award (See related story, Page 17).
“When I was in school at Ohio State doing electrical engineering we thought slavery was something that passed a long time ago, especially in America and other developed countries,” Chongsiriwatana said. “The fact is, the enslavement of children still exists in the form of forced labor, forced prostitution, begging rings…and children being used as child soldiers.”
Another important aspect of his education at Ohio State was his involvement with a campus Christian group.
“At the root of my motivation to fight child slavery is the Christian conviction that Jesus loves all these children and wants them to be protected. Ohio State was a place that had room for religious expressions, including compassion, and did not treat these as irrelevant from academic life. Without that experience, I doubt that I would be doing what I am doing today.”
The International Labour Organization has estimated there may be as many as 1.2 million people in slave labor worldwide. As Chongsiriwatana became more aware of the need to stop this crisis, he realized there were many ways he could use his education that would be incredibly beneficial.
“At first, I was thinking, ‘Oh, what can I do?’” Chongsiriwatana said. Then, he thought about all the ways a background in engineering and technology could be applied to solving the problems tied to human trafficking. Such projects required data management, quality control and project coordination. Schools and other buildings had to be constructed. There were needs for computer experts. Because of the complexity for ZOE to track all its cases, Chongsiriwatana set up a database for the child rescue team’s use. Using technology helps the organization identify child trafficking hot spots in Thailand.
“We are thinking of child rescue processes a bit like sales management,” he said. “It’s kind of weird to think of it like that, but it kind of matches. You try to find a child and you have to track the case. It gets pretty complicated.”
Chongsiriwatana’s work is just the tip of the humanitarian iceberg. At Ohio State alone, there are student engineering organizations doing numerous service projects in the community and faculty research into technology that can address societal problems. The university also has educational resources to train future engineers to support humanitarian causes around the world.
“We need people from all disciplines. We need people from medicine, from accounting. We need administrators. We need engineers. In the end, you need boots on the ground,” Chongsiriwatana said. “You need people who go and help identify these children, who work with law enforcement and social services.”
For more information about humanitarian engineering activities at Ohio State, visit osuhe.engineering.osu.edu/. For information about ZOE, visit www.gozoe.org.
