Pritpal Singh

By Pritpal Singh

Information, communication, and energy technologies have the potential to improve engineering education worldwide. With the availability of low cost, open-source microcontrollers/microcomputers, such as the Arduino and Raspberry Pi platforms, and a wide variety of sensors and communication tools, a range of engineering applications and innovations may be developed at a low price. Furthermore, the cost of solar panels and LED lamps have also dropped dramatically in recent years and these also allow for improved energy support in regions that lack energy access or require autonomous monitoring/processing. Also, low-cost 3D printers are now widely available for making simple prototypes of hardware. Finally, low-cost educational software tools have also become available. Combining these technologies enables engineering education to be brought into traditionally inaccessible communities in the world. In this book chapter, examples of how ICT and energy technologies are being used to teach students engineering technologies in underserved communities will be described. Application areas to be described will include environmental monitoring, clean water systems, and remote learning.

Part of the book: Insights Into Global Engineering Education After the Birth of Industry 5.0

By Pritpal Singh

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) were developed in 2015 to address many global development challenges. Some of these goals include bringing affordable and clean energy to all (UN SDG7), provide clean water and sanitation for all (UN SDG6), providing quality education from early childhood to adults (UN SDG4), and decent work and economic growth (UN SDG 8). Technology has been advancing and can be deployed to address these challenges through entrepreneurial ways. In this chapter we will describe how technology-enabled innovative and entrepreneurial solutions are being brought to address these goals. The specific research questions to be addressed are: What types of Innovation and Entrepreneurship models are most effective in addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals? This book chapter reviews different innovations in technologies and business models in the energy sector, particularly off-grid renewable energy, health care, water and sanitation, agriculture, and education sectors. The common themes of innovations in business models and technologies will be drawn from these case study reviews to guide researchers in developing new entrepreneurial approaches to addressing the UN SDGs.

Part of the book: Entrepreneurship