Vision.

Future Scientist believes in the ability of science and engineering to solve many of the world’s problems. In addition, we believe that efficient transfer of knowledge is imperative for a sustainable fight against poverty and disease.

Future Scientist seeks to address the plights of resource-poor communities through two major paths:

1. Work with communities to develop and install carefully tailored projects to improve health and living conditions.
2. Provide intensive technical training pertaining to the projects. Target communities will become self-reliant and gain practical scientific and engineering skills to further improve their lives by developing their own projects.

Our hands-on learning approach seeks to endow young future scientists and engineers with the skills and excitement necessary for them to help their communities and themselves. Not only will technically-skilled students be able to help their community become independent of external aid, they will be endowed with the knowledge and confidence to pursue scientific and engineering disciplines.

Plan

Future Scientist was started by graduate students who see science and engineering as an essential ingredient for social change and believe sustainability is key for outreach programs to become successful. Through community-based projects, trained volunteers will demonstrate the utility of science in everyday life in order to improve the daily lives of the local people and to provide an impetus for exploring the world with a scientist’s eye. Not only is Future Scientist providing the skills needed to maintain projects, we are also providing the resources for communities to expand on their own and eventually break free of their existing constraints. This viral model has been successfully applied to web-based efforts and should provide the growth necessary for large-scale change.

Project mission:

As part of our pilot program, we are installing a solar charging system for night-time lighting at an orphanage near Iquitos, Peru in August 2009. We will supplement the project with lessons on solar energy, including solar ovens and teaching the older students to build their own solar-powered radios. In addition, we will teach students the basics of disease transmission and hygiene by showing them their environment under a microscope and using various interactive games to show how disease can spread. Our goal is to demonstrate the benefits of science to an undereducated at-risk population.
More information can be found at the Future Scientist Projects page.

News:http://futurescientist.org/labmeeting.htm
Project page URL:http://futurescientist.org