Engineers illustrate how technology can serve in disaster-relief efforts
By Kendal Madden
Stanford Report
“When the relief workers arrive after a disaster, what is the first thing they need?” asked Dipak Basu, a Reuters Fellow at Stanford’s Digital Vision Program, at a campus forum on disaster relief on April 22. “Communications,” he answered. “They need a way to talk with the rest of the world, to request supplies and to let the world know what is going on.”
Basu and two other engineers participated in a panel discussion on the technological responses and challenges that followed the December 2004 tsunami disaster in Asia. All three men have extensive background working with international development organizations to bring crucial technology to the developing world. The discussion was moderated by Leonard Ortolano, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and the director of the Haas Center for Public Service. The event, held at the Haas Center, was the third in a series of panels on post-tsunami reconstruction called “After the Waves.” The series is hosted by the Haas Center, Engineers for a Sustainable World and Stanford Student Relief.
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