Introduction to Development Engineering

Viac o knihe

This open access textbook introduces Development Engineering, covering its theories, methods, and applications. It serves as a teaching resource for students and a reference for researchers and practitioners focused on designing and scaling technologies for low-resource communities. The content spans various topics, including mobile applications for low-literacy users and hardware/software solutions for electricity and water access in remote areas. It is interdisciplinary, integrating social sciences with engineering and natural sciences. The book begins with a historical overview of “technology-for-development” research and presents a framework to formalize this field into an academic discipline. It outlines common challenges in development and introduces an iterative approach of “innovation, implementation, evaluation, adaptation.” The subsequent six thematic sections cover energy and environment; market performance; education and labor; water, sanitation, and health; digital governance; and connectivity. Each section features case studies that merge engineering innovation with rigorous social science methods, detailing the design and evaluation of technologies in the field. These case studies highlight successful development solutions while also addressing failures. The conclusion reiterates core principles of development engineering, emphasizing the challenges engineers and scientists face in creating sustainable technol