01-12-2010 7.0 Magnitude Earthquake in Haiti.
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
Architectural Engineering Civil Engineering Construction Engineering Design Engineering Ethics Engineering Mechanics General Engineering, Engineering Science Geological Engineering Materials Engineering Mechanical Engineering |
| Special Topic(s): | |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Community - Blog |
| Media Type: |
Unknown |
| Author(s): |
Alice Agogino |
| Description: | Engineering Pathway's "Today in History" for January 12. Today in History - January 12, 2010 - 7.0 Magnitude Earthquake in Haiti. The earthquake struck a highly populated region of this impoverished Caribbean island approximately 17 km from the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Hundreds of thousands died, many more injured, many buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged, infrastructures collapsed and millions became homeless and without food. The Haiti earthquake created a level of human tragedy that makes it difficult to examine, but it is imperative that we learn everything we can from this disaster. What lessons will engineers find in the ruins? What role will engineers have in restoring the country? Can engineers limit the structural and societal damages of similar, future catastrophes around the world? Another critical question is: How can engineering technology be applied to solve current and future problems in Haiti? As the news unfolded about the Haiti earthquake on the evening of January 12th, I was horrified by the thought that one of my doctoral students was there, along with another UC Berkeley student, to work on one of her socially-responsible design projects. Their goal of their project was to transform carbonized agricultural waste into charcoal briquettes that could be used for cooking fuel. This kind of fuel would reduce deforestation in wood-fuel dependent areas such as Haiti as well as providing a business opportunity for this impoverished nation. I cried in relief when we were able to get hold of her by cell phone and internet. She and her colleague decided to stay as long as they could at the request of the United Nations to help build human-powered ambulances based on another one of her designs in Zambia. |
| Rating: |
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| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | Haiti earthquake earthquakes seismic construction cargo containers |
| Is Component of: |
"Today in History" Blog of the Engineering Pathway Digital Library |
| Usage Tip | |
| Related ABET Criteria: |
(b) Design and conduct experiments, analyze and interpret data (c) Design a system, component, or process (h) Understand global, economic, environmental, and societal context |
| Use of Resource: |
Tragic, but instructive case study that addresses social implications of technology, engineering ethics, construction technologies and policies and community-based service learning. |
| Difficulty: |
Easy |
| Interactivity Level: |
Low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | January 2010 |
| Platform/Format: |
WWW |
| Cost: |
Free |
| Download URL: | http://www.k-grayengineeringeducation.com/blog/index.php/2011/01/ |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
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