COURSE NUMBER: MBA290T.1

This course is cross-listed with the EWMBA, Dev.Eng. and Mechanical Engineering Programs

COURSE TITLE: Design and Evaluation of Development Technology

UNITS OF CREDIT: 3

INSTRUCTORS: Ashok Gadgil (Environmental Engineering), Paul Gertler (Berkeley-Haas and the School of Public Health) Jennifer Walske (Berkeley-Haas and the Blum Center for Developing Economies)

E-MAIL ADDRESS: gadgil@berkeley.edu, gertler@berkeley.edu; jmwalske@berkeley.edu

PREREQUISITE(S): None

CLASS FORMAT: Lecture and class group work

REQUIRED READINGS: There will be weekly readings and case studies. The case studies will focus on social startups in a developing country context, including technologies currently being developed at UC Berkeley (e.g., mobile phone microscope, solar powered lights for health clinics, etc.).

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:

• 20% Class Participation (this will be tracked weekly).
• 20% Technical Feasibility Aanalysis (End of Module One).
• 20% Business Model Development (End of Module Two).
• 20% Social Impact Assessment (End of Module Three).
• 20% Final Reflection Assignment (Turned into bspace).

ABSTRACT OF COURSE’S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES: This class provides you with key skills to create innovative products, targeted for developing countries, using collaborative, team-based techniques.  Unique to this course, you will be working in cross-disciplinary teams composed of the best and brightest across Cal, in top ranked business, engineering, policy, and science graduate degree programs. You will be working together to help advance ongoing programs targeted for the developing world, with highly ranked faculty. This course also incorporates design projects and case studies, many of which are related to projects that had their genesis, and still receive support from various labs at UC Berkeley, as a part of our ongoing class discussions.  A roster of speakers steeped in the field of developing country product deployment have also been invited to support identified topics.This course is composed of three modules: (1) Technical feasibility analysis, (2) business issues and business model development and (3) social impact assessment.      

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

Dr. Ashok Gadgil, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineer at UC Berkeley, Faculty Senior Scientist and former Director of the Energy and Environmental Technologies Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Dr. Gadgil specializes in heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and design for development. He also has substantial experience in technical, economic, and policy research on energy efficiency and its implementation - particularly in developing countries. He is best known for his work with two developing-world technologies: "UV Waterworks" (a simple and effective and inexpensive water disinfection system), and the Berkeley-Darfur Stove (a low-cost stove to that saves fuelwood in internally displaced person's camps in Darfur).  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashok_Gadgil

Dr. Paul Gertler is the Li Ka Shing Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley, with joint appointments at the Haas School of Business and the School of Public Health. He is also the Scientific Director of the Center for Effective Global Action.  Dr. Gertler is an internationally recognized expert in impact evaluation. Dr. Gertler was Chief Economist of the Human Development Network of the World Bank from 2004-2007 and the Founding Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) from 2009-2012.  At the World Bank he led an effort to institutionalize and scale up impact evaluation for learning what works in human development. At Berkeley he teaches courses in applied impact evaluation at both the graduate and undergraduate levels as well as in an executive education program for policy makers. He is the author of the best-selling textbook Impact Evaluation in Practice and the recently released second edition, published by the The World Bank Press.

Dr. Jennifer Walske, is a Faculty Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies, and both a Social Impact Fellow and Distinguished Teaching Fellow at Berkeley-Haas. She publishes with Dr. Laura Tyson, Faculty Director of the Institute for Business and Social Impact, with an emphasis on how social startups scale. She has been the recipient of the “Best Paper” award at the NYU-Stern Social Entrepreneurship Conference for her work in social finance, and has led many sessions on the same topic at the Academy of Management. She received the Cheit Award for Teaching Excellence at Berkeley-Haas and at University of San Francisco she also received awards for teaching and research excellence. She sits on the boards of ASSET, Net Impact, Better VC, and San Francisco Ballet.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferwalske