The DC HEART (Humanity, Energy, and Regional Transformation) initiative is a partnership among the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business, Swanson School of Engineering, and School of Social Work, as well as the Narottam Lalbhai Rural Development Fund and Ahmedabad University. As part of the Direct Currect (DC) powered Bioshelter laboratory in Homewood (video), NonProfTech.info is creating a set of lesson plans that will be taught in conjunction with The Oasis Project/ Bible Center Church. Read about the trip John Camillus and Bopaya Bidanda made to India last summer to lay the groundwork for a partnership meant to use Indian engineering expertise to help scale up the Homewood Bioshelter.
ElderBots is a program created by the (now defunct) Carnegie Mellon University Quality of Life Technology Center. The main goals of ElderBots are to:
• improve the quality of life for older adults by facilitating intergenerational contact, and,
• instill in teenagers a sense of volunteerism and potential career choices that benefit older generations and the communities they share.
ElderBots promotes informal intergenerational contacts through the use of a small, appealing, low-cost, mobile robot named EB. Participating organizations and facilities serving older adults are teamed with local high schools that recruit students to visit the older adults, interacting on an informal basis through the use of EB. The ElderBots program, therefore, addresses the critical problems of loneliness, isolation, and depression among older adults, and the decreasing level of social interaction found widely throughout our society.
The program will also leverage robotics as a very effective means of teaching advanced technologies. Additionally, while it may exist in a school as either an accredited course or an extracurricular activity, students will find it useful in building their academic and volunteer portfolios. Visit our blog.
QoLT
The Quality of Life Technology (QoLT) Center is a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center (ERC) that brings together a cross-disciplinary team of technologists, clinicians, industry partners, end users, and other stakeholders to create revolutionary technologies that will improve and sustain the quality of life for all people. Joe was appointed to the Education and Outreach Advisory Board in 2009, and served as Lead Ambassador until 2016.
Executive Service Corps
Joe volunteers as a technology consultant with the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management Executive Service Corps at Robert Morris University.
OASIS Pittsburgh
OASIS is an educational program for adults located in Macy’s in downtown Pittsburgh. NonProfit Tech fully supported OASIS with all aspects of IT and technology.
The Bridge to Hope
The Bridge to Hope supports familes of substance abusers. NonProfit Tech partnered with BigBigDesign to design and implement a new web site.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh
NonProfit Tech tutored Habitat staff in the use of Dreamweaver software.
Pine Creek Watershed Coalition
NonProfit Tech maintains a WordPress site for this local environmental organization.
Other NonProfit Tech projects include:
- Ronald McDonald House of Pittsburgh
- North Area Environmental Council
- Lydia’s Place
- Deer Creek Watershed Association
- Technology Day of Caring
- Mentoring for Technology Consulting in the Community, a course at CMU in which software engineering students intern in community organizations and nonprofits
- Tech and IT consulting for the Heinz History Center
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