Humanitarian Engineering Certificate
The undergraduate Humanitarian Engineering Certificate provides students with the opportunity to develop expertise in designing and/or implementing projects or products for traditionally underserved populations, e.g., the physically or mentally challenged, low-income or rural communities, or communities experiencing humanitarian crises. The participants will develop not only technical knowledge but also awareness of social, political, and/or economic circumstances that may be important to the development of engineering solutions for underserved populations.
Total Hours Required: 18
Requirements
Requirements are listed in the table below. Additional requirements may follow the table, so be sure to read the entire page. Some required courses listed below may also satisfy General Education requirements, including Core Curriculum. Students should also review the University's Undergraduate Minor and Certificate Requirements and Policies.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Hours chosen from: | 3 | |
| First-Year Signature Course | ||
| First-Year Signature Course | ||
| Cultural Anthropology | ||
| Classics of Social and Political Thought | ||
| This Human World: An Introduction to Geography | ||
| PHY 303L | Engineering Physics II | 3 |
| PHY 105N | Laboratory For Physics 302L, 303L, and 317L | 1 |
| Choose a sequence below: | 4 | |
| Sequence 1: | ||
| Project Development with Underserved Communities | ||
| Project Design with Underserved Communities | ||
| Sequence 2: | ||
| Humanitarian Product Design | ||
| Humanitarian Product Prototyping | ||
Approved project design course such as M E 466E (approval for these options must be obtained in advance from the Committee for the Humanitarian Engineering Certificate) | ||
Approved independent study research project (approval for these options must be obtained in advance from the Committee for the Humanitarian Engineering Certificate) | ||
| M E 120C | Humanitarian Engineering Seminar | 1 |
| Hours chosen from: | 3 | |
| Global Food, Farming, and Hunger | ||
| Population and Society | ||
| Contemporary Cultural Geography | ||
| Geographies of Globalization | ||
| Medical Geography | ||
| Global Health Issues and Health Systems | ||
| Might and Right among Nations | ||
| Environmental Ethics and Philosophy | ||
| Medicine, Ethics, and Society | ||
| Global Markets and Local Cultures | ||
| Global History of Disease (Topic 18: Global History of Disease) | ||
| Communicating Sustainability | ||
| Communication and Social Change | ||
| Hours chosen from: (additional courses may be substituted for those listed upon approval by the advisor for Humanitarian Engineering): | 3 | |
| Project Management and Economics | ||
| Building Environmental Systems | ||
| Biochemical Engineering | ||
| Biomechanics of Human Movement | ||
| Biomechanics | ||
| Engineering Biomaterials | ||
| Medical Decision Making | ||
| Introduction to Environmental Engineering | ||
| Water and Wastewater Treatment Engineering | ||
| Design of Wastewater and Water Treatment Facilities | ||
| Indoor Air Quality | ||
| Hydrology | ||
| Introduction to Biochemical Engineering | ||
| Cell and Tissue Engineering | ||
| Design for Environment | ||
| Chemical Engineering Economics and Business Analysis | ||
| Technology and Its Impact on the Environment | ||
| Solar Energy Conversion Devices | ||
| Renewable Energy and Power Systems | ||
| Development of a Solar-Powered Vehicle | ||
| Biomedical Electronic Instrument Design | ||
| Applications of Biomedical Engineering | ||
| Nuclear Environmental Protection | ||
| Design and Control of Robots for Rehabilitation | ||
| Biomechanics of Human Movement | ||
| Solar Energy Systems Design | ||
| Development of a Solar-Powered Vehicle | ||
| Energy Technology and Policy | ||
| Renewable Energy Technology | ||
| Medical Device Design and Manufacturing | ||
| Nanotechnology for Sustainable Energy | ||
| GLUE Undergraduate Research | ||
| Technology Needs of Refugee Communities | ||
| Total Hours | 18 | |
Additional Requirements and Policy
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Students must receive a grade of at least a C- in each course applied toward the certificate and have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 in the courses presented to fulfill the certificate.
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The certificate program will be managed by the Committee for the Humanitarian Engineering Certificate in the J. Mike Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering.
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Students may apply for participation in the program at any time during their enrollment at The University of Texas at Austin, but it is recommended that they apply prior to starting the requirements.
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Students must contact the Committee for the Humanitarian Engineering Certificate in the J. Mike Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering to apply for the certificate in the semester in which they are completing the requirements and graduating.