DIL State of the Lab Fall 2013 | Page 3

By Jessica Clayton DIL Graduate Student Researcher The complex challenges of international development can only be addressed with solutions that are equally multifaceted. Going from innovative idea to project implementation demands a diverse set of skills. On University campuses, these skills have traditionally been delineated by academic department, but true innovation lies beyond the classes listed on a transcript. The Development Impact Lab (DIL) recognizes and builds on this insight, capitalizing on the unique interests and backgrounds throughout the campus community to promote development initiatives. More than inter-disciplinary, the approach is also extra-disciplinary. Whether undergraduate, graduate student, or campus staff, DIL promotes the inclusion of passion, practice, and experience to build new constellations of campus collaborations within its technology for development (or, tech4dev) initiatives. Bringing diagnostic equipment to health clinics in Vietnam Drawn into development work while working for community development organizations in Philadelphia and D.C., Political Science major Anh-Thi Le joined the UC Berkeley Blum Center’s Global Poverty and Practice minor to further her understanding of social justice. Two years into the program she found herself explaining the nuances of CellScope, a medical device that turns a smartphone into Anh-Thi worked from the campus, learning the ins and outs of Cellscope’s operations to help trouble-shoot during deployment of TB testing a diagnostic microscope, to health care practitioners in Hanoi Province, Vietnam.in 15 clinicas in Vietnam. A child of Vietnamese parents, Anh-Thi is fluent in Vietnamese, but her previous professional experiences lay in social innovation and community outreach, rather than technology, health, or engineering. In essence, Anh-Thi was exactly what CellScope needed to complement their core engineering team and to expand their services in Vietnam. Initially she wasn’t convinced. “That was the first lab I had ever walked into. Initially I was nervous because I had never dealt with hardware and software.” But, she adds, “I was passionate about their operation.” Anh-Thi spent hours with the CellScope team, learning the ins and outs of the device, and then used her understanding to troubleshoot its implementation over the phone with health care service providers in Vietnam. With time, she grew more confident, and recognized her role within DIL’s CellScope initiative. “At the time they didn’t need another specialist in global health or engineering. I was a good fit because I have a lot of experience working with diverse groups of people.” By using her passions and personal experiences, Anh-Thi enabled CellScope’s rollout in Vietnam while learning about the development innovation process. “It was a new experience for me, and there were a lot of obstacles that I learned about that I can apply to my future career. The experience has made me more confident.” Re-inventing cellphone coverage in Indonesia Agung Nugroho designed a business plan for VBTS, a lowcost telecommunications system. On the north side of campus, Haas MBA student Agung Nugroho opened his FaceBook account to discover that VBTS Technology (The Village Base Station) was seeking someone with business experience to assist with their project in Indonesia. VBTS produces cellular t