APS 420/1420H1S Syllabus V1.5 March 6, 2019 1
APS 420 H1S | APS 1420 H1S – Winter 2019
Technology, Engineering and Global Development
Instructor:
Ahmed Mahmoud, P.Eng
(a.mahmoud@utoronto.ca)
January 9, 2019
Course Overview
:
One of the most remarkable recent trends in the profession of engineering has been the rising interest in the
role of technology in addressing the perverse challenge of global poverty. This trend emerged from students
– such as yourself – asking their educators and institutions how they can capitalize on their skills in order to
effect a positive change in the lives of those who lack access to the basic necessities of life, such as adequate
nutrition, clean water, and safe shelter. In the past several decades, dozens of complex innovations such as
fortified food staples and mobile finance – along with simpler ones, such as all-terrain wheelchairs made
from recycled bicycle components – have been brought to market and have already helped lift millions out
of poverty. However, as we will come to learn in this course, technology alone will not rid the world of its
intractable problems, and in fact, it may do more harm than good if not implemented appropriately.
Course Motivation:
Every failed attempt to leverage technology to help the poor serves to arouse the skepticism of those at the
receiving end of the technology, and it discourages donors from investing in further initiatives. We owe it
our profession, to our donors/investors, and to our customers in the Global South, to understand how we
can learn from past failures and how we can do an effective job of addressing key challenges in global
development with clever innovations (which need not be costly nor cutting-edge).
How We Will Accomplish That:
Through a combination of lectures, guest talks, readings, and case studies, we will learn about the history
and competing theories of international development, globalization, and foreign aid; major government, non-
government, and multilateral actors in development; emerging models of development (social
entrepreneurship, microfinance, risk capital approaches); classic diffusion of technology models that derive
from anthropology, sociology, psychology, geography and migration studies; and the economic history that
trace barriers to the use of innovations. This course will specifically focus on the impact on innovation as it
applies to rural agricultural development, humanitarian engineering, and WASH.
Desired Outcomes:
• Shed any incorrect, preconceived notions about poverty and aid economics
• Gain a broad understanding of some key concepts in global development which would allow you to
participate in contemporary discourse about development and contribute to ongoing discussions
about technology, its role in development, as well as its limitations
• Think critically and creatively about development interventions and aid projects
• Learn about appropriate technologies for developing communities, their impact, and how they can
be conceived, designed and implemented
Intended Audience:
APS 420/1420H1S Syllabus V1.5 March 6, 2019 2
This course is primarily targeted toward senior engineering undergraduates and graduate students in the
Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. However, it is open – and may be of interest – to graduate
students from the Munk School of Global Affairs, the Rotman School of Management, and select departments
in Arts and Science.
Meeting Schedule:
Class will meet twice a week:
Wednesday 3 pm – 5 pm SS 2108 (Sidney Smith)
Friday 3 pm – 5 pm OI 2214
*
(OISE)
TAs:
Nitish Sarker nitish.sarker@mail.utoronto.ca
Rachel Pagdin r.pagdin@mail.utoronto.ca
Office Hours:
Monday 1 pm – 2:30 pm MY791 – Myhal Centre
However, feel free to email the instructor if you would like to meet outside those hours.
Course Materials:
There is no official course textbook. All readings (required and optional) will be made available on Quercus.
Grading Scheme:
*
Except
February 15
and
April 5
; on those days we will meet in
OI 5150 (OISE)
Midterm
Exam
20%
Group
Project
35%
Final Exam
40%
Participation
5%
Midterm
Exam
20%
Group
Project
35%
Essay
10%
Final Exam
30%
Participation
5%
APS 420 APS 1420
APS 420/1420H1S Syllabus V1.5 March 6, 2019 3
Lecture Schedule:
Week #
Dates
Lecture 1
(Wednesday)
Lecture 2
(Friday)
Assigned Readings
1
January 9
January 11
Introduction to the course and get-
to-know-you
Term project overview and
teambuilding exercise
• Brief: World Vision Social
Innovation Challenge: How
might we find value in waste?
2
January 16
January 18
•
Brief history of international
development, globalization,
and foreign aid in the 20th
century
•
Competing paradigms for
development
Mathu Jeyaloganathan
Portfolio Manager, Impact
Investing, World Vision
Canada
•
Excerpt: William Easterly, The
White Man’s Burden
• Excerpt: Jeffrey Sachs, The
End of Poverty
3
January 23
January 25
•
Understanding and measuring
poverty
•
Poverty traps
Lisa Erdle
PhD Student | Microplastics
pollution in the Great Lakes
• Excerpt: Amartya Sen,
Development as Freedom
4
January 30
February 1
•
From supply-driven projects
to human-centered design
(HCD)
• Introduction to Appropriate
Technology and its role in
rural development
•
Frugal innovation
Business Model Canvas
workshop
• Excerpt: E.F. Schumacher,
Small is Beautiful
APS 420/1420H1S Syllabus V1.5 March 6, 2019 4
5
February 6
February 8
CLASS CANCELED
•
Introduction to
delivery models for
the Bottom of the
Pyramid
• Business Models and
Value Chains
• Emerging models of
development and
social
entrepreneurship
• Essay: Prahalad & Hart, The
Fortune at the Bottom of the
Pyramid
6
February 13
February 15
Dr. Joseph Wong
Ralph and Roz Halbert Professor of
Innovation, Munk School of Global
Affairs
• Business models cont.
• Emerging business
models continued
• Institutional
framework for global
development
• Introduction to the
UN MDGs and SDGs
• Excerpt: [ILO] A Rough Guide
to Value Chain Development
• Paper: How the Millennium
Development Goals are Unfair
to Africa
7
Reading Week
8
February 27
March 1
Tackling financial exclusion in low-
income countries. Topics covered:
• Microfinance
•
Fintech innovations
Case Studies in technologies
for agricultural development
•
Report: A Practitioner’s Guide
for Technology Evaluation in
Global Development
APS 420/1420H1S Syllabus V1.5 March 6, 2019 5
9
March 6
March 8
Midterm
Kiki Chan
PhD, Food Engineering
•
Excerpt: Calestous Juma, The
New Harvest
10
March 13
March 15
•
Case studies in technologies
for WASH in LICs
Dr. Dan Hoornweg
Professor and Research
Chair, University of Ontario
Institute of Technology
No Readings
11
March 20
March 22
•
Diffusion of technological
innovations in the Global
South
Theory of Change workshop
•
Paper: Boru Douthwaite, Why
Promising Technologies Fail:
The Neglected Role of User
Innovation During Adoption
12
March 27
March 29
With regards to development
interventions:
•
Impact assessment
•
Monitoring and Evaluation
• Pitching workshop
• Reflections and Q&A
• Brief: Should the Randomistas
Rule?
13
April 3
April 5
Pitch Presentations Part 1
Pitch Presentations Part 2
No readings
14
April 10
Pitch Presentations Part 3
No class
No readings
April 27
Final Exam – 2:00 pm in HA-401 (Haultain Building)
APS 420/1420H1S Syllabus V1.5 March 6, 2019 6
Course Guidelines and Procedures
Missed Midterm Exam:
Per the Office of the Registrar’s guidelines on missed term-work, students who have a valid reason
for not attending the midterm must submit a Term-Work Petition on the Engineering Portal
. Note
the following deadlines for submitting petitions concerning the midterm:
• Medical-related Absences: Petitions must be submitted no later than seven days after a
student returns to school and before the end of the term. The Faculty will not accept term-
work petitions submitted after the final examination period has ended.
• Non-medical Absences: Petitions must be submitted immediately after the date of the
affected work, or as soon as the student is able to. For example, if a student plans to miss a
quiz because of an unavoidable conflict, such as a citizenship oath ceremony or full-time job
interview, they should file a petition in advance.
• Religious Observance Absences: Petitions must be submitted a minimum of three weeks in
advance of the observance.
If the petition is approved by the Registrar, the test weight will be re-allocated to the final exam. If
the midterm is missed and a petition is denied or is not submitted before the stipulated deadline, a
grade of zero (0) will be assessed for the exam.
Late Arrival to Midterm/Final Exam:
If you arrive late to a test, two scenarios are possible:
• If you have no valid excuse for your late arrival (per the Registrar’s guidelines for missed
term-work), you may proceed to sit the remainder of the exam, but you will have to finish at
the prescribed end time for the exam. If you choose not to sit the exam, you will be assessed
a grade of zero (0).
• If you do have a valid excuse for being late, you can either sit the remainder of the exam, or
you can choose to not sit the exam and submit a Term-Work/Final Exam Petition to the
Registrar explaining your circumstances. However, you cannot do both; that is, you cannot
continue to sit the exam and then hedge your bets by submitting a petition to the Registrar.
You will have to decide, upon arrival, which option you prefer to proceed with.
Late Coursework:
Project deliverables, including presentation slides, are expected to be submitted by the specified due
date and time. For each day the deliverable is late, 10% of the assigned grade will be deducted for up
to five (5) days (i.e. a maximum deduction of 50%). No submissions will be accepted after five days
from the due date/time, and a grade of zero (0) will be assessed to the assignment in question.
Extensions will not be granted after the deadline has passed.
If the delay is the result of illness or domestic affliction, the individual involved must contact the
instructor before the assignment is due to explain their circumstances. A medical certificate or other
supporting evidence will be required to corroborate the individual’s request for extension. The
instructor will set a new deadline at their discretion which, if missed, will incur the aforementioned
penalty of a 10% deduction per day. A lost or deleted computer file do not count as a valid excuse.
Re-grade Requests:
APS 420/1420H1S Syllabus V1.5 March 6, 2019 7
Re-grades are generally not done. The most common circumstance under which a re-grade request
is granted is if there is a clear error or omission, such as a question being missed by the grader. If you
believe there is an error with the grading of any of the course tests/assignments, submit the
document in question to the TA that graded it with a full, written explanation for why you believe the
mark is in error. The re-grade request must be submitted within five (5) working days of receiving
the marked test/assignment. No exceptions will be made for late submissions.
TAs will review the test/assignment that has been submitted for a re-grade. Students acknowledge
that, during the re-grading process, grades can increase, decrease, or remain the same. If there is
further dispute about the grade, it must be submitted in writing within three (3) days of the re-grade
to the instructor, who will examine the test/assignment and TAs comments. The same conditions
about the grade apply.
Final Exams:
Final Exams are scheduled, administered and governed by the policies set by the Office of the
Registrar. Should you find yourself unable to attend the final exam, you will have to submit a Final
Exam Petition to the Registrar through the
Engineering Portal. Petitions that concern final
examinations should be submitted within seven days of your last exam. Note that deferred exams
and re-writes for courses in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering are not standard practice.
If a petition is approved, the Committee on Examinations will likely assign an assessed mark based
on closely supervised term work as compared to the closely supervised term work the rest of the
class in relation to their final exam performance. Circumstances under which Final Exam petitions
are approved are very rare, so be sure to carefully review the
Registrar’s guidelines before deciding
on what course of action to pursue if you are considering missing the Final Exam.
Academic Misconduct:
Students should note that copying, plagiarizing, or other forms of academic misconduct will not be
tolerated. Any student caught engaging in such activities will be subject to academic discipline
ranging from a mark of zero (0) on the assignment or test to dismissal from the university as outlined
in the academic handbook. Any student abetting or otherwise assisting in such misconduct will also
be subject to academic penalties.
