U-M Students Look to Create Social Change Through Engineering

The University of Michigan's Health Engineered for All Lives (M-HEAL) is a student group founded in 2006 to give engineering students the opportunity to work in global health. M-HEAL uses service, needs assessment, engineering design, and social entrepreneurship to improve access to medical technology in underdeveloped communities. Volunteering occurs at a non-profit called World Medical Relief (WMR), where M-HEAL members repair medical equipment that is sent to clinics in need around the world. M-HEAL also designed an inventory system for WMR, the implementation of which required participation from over 150 volunteers. Design projects are another aspect of M-HEAL, the first step of which is surveying the need of developing communities. This has been undertaken by the M-HEAL survey team, whose survey identifies technology that clinics and hospitals lack, and the constraints of designing for developing communities. It is distributed to University of Michigan students who volunteer abroad and the results help generate design projects. Some examples of M-HEAL projects include a low-cost surgical lamp, a solar-powered refrigerator, an infant safety seat, a manual centrifuge and a telemedicine ultrasound machine. Through partnerships with the Ross School of Business, M-HEAL has become involved with social entrepreneurship to explore ways for creating socially responsible ventures around these design projects. M-HEAL is a diverse group, consisting of graduate and undergraduate students from engineering, medicine, business and the liberal arts. M-HEAL has been featured on local television and in publications throughout the University of Michigan as a group bringing about social change through engineering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73jU2tJJJBY

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