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Events

10

Jan

Developing Sustainable Service-Learning Projects: Insights from Engineering Discipline

Staff

Dr. Jordan Ermilio, Director, Engineering Service Learning, Villanova University, USA

10 Jan 2019

10:30am - 11:30am

BC304, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Abstract

Sustainable engineering is engineering reconstructed for today’s world to solve today’s problems. Villanova Engineering Service Learning (VESL) builds a commitment to lifelong learning and service with a global perspective. VESL projects are rooted in an ethical engagement with project partners and communities. Fundamental to this is the belief that empowering local communities is essential to creating sustainable solutions. During the workshop, Dr Jordan Ermilio would share the way VESL sets up sustainable engineering projects in developing countries, such as Cambodia, Madagascar and Panama, how to conduct research on sustainable development and share the evaluation framework used and the critical factors in ensuring the projects’ sustainability.

Jordan Ermilio has been directly involved with the engineering design and implementation of water supply projects in countries throughout Southeast Asia, Central America and Africa. He served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines, with Oxfam International in East Timor and worked as a consultant in Sri Lanka. He is the Director of the Villanova Engineering Service Learning Program where he strategically integrated curricular programs within engineering departments. He is the principal investigator for the Sustainable WASH Research initiative and is currently completing his PhD on the Sustainability of Water Infrastructure as a part-time student at Loughborough University.


Jordan is a Professional Engineer and teaches courses in International Development, Engineering Capstone Design and Engineering for Developing Communities. His research interests include performance monitoring of water supply infrastructure with an emphasis on establishing links between water management, system reliability and long-term sustainability.

CoP-SLHE is an UGC-funded initiative jointly organised by Hong Kong Baptist University, Lingnan University, The Education University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Our goal is to facilitate sharing of experiences among SL practitioners and interested staff from all UGC-funded institutions and to promote collective learning and the scholarship of teaching and learning in Service-Learning.