Santa Clara University’s

Frugal Innovation Lab develops

accessible, affordable,

appropriate, and adaptable

technologies, products, and

solutions for emerging markets.

Santa Clara University School of Engineering

S a n t a C l a r a U n i v e r s i t y

Instruction

The Frugal Innovation Lab exemplifies Santa Clara University’s

academic mission by incorporating collaboration and coursework

across engineering, business, public health, and environmental science

disciplines. Beginning with the undergraduate core curriculum, frugal

innovation is embedded within technical electives, senior design research

projects, public health science classes, and graduate engineering

courses including Engineering for the Developing World and Mobile

Applications for Emerging Markets. Courses incorporate business

planning and entrepreneurial skills to emphasize the need for a design

framework/infrastructure that considers the entire product cycle, from

manufacturing to distribution as well as scaling.

Sustainable Livelihoods:Empowering Rural Communities

Within the Frugal Innovation Lab’s worldwide network of

social entrepreneurs is Anudip, a social enterprise that

provides market-aligned skills training in new economy

jobs and livelihoods to empower rural youth and women

in India. Under the guidance of SCU faculty from computer

engineering and communication departments, under-

graduate student teams in FIL courses collaborated with

Anudip’s field staff to design and test mobile applications,

expand mobile technology platforms, and document

the program’s social impact in an engaging, accurate,

and meaningful way. Through these activities, Anudip

alumni are able to accelerate their education and, thus,

their employability.

Engineering with a Mission—the motto of the School of Engineering—is brought to life through leadership in shaping the new paradigm of frugal innovation. In the heart of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara University is ideally situated at the nexus of technology, innova-tion, entrepreneurship, and social justice. The Frugal Innovation Lab (FIL) integrates the goals of the School of Engineering with SCU’s Jesuit philosophy of educating students of conscience, competence, and compassion.

Santa Clara is in a unique position to take advantage of interdisciplinary academic collaborations, Silicon Valley corporate partnerships, and lasting relationships with established social entrepreneurs to provide both academic and practical experience to students interested in pursuing FIL’s mission.

“Students today can expect and anticipate that in the decades ahead, they will witness even more dramatic advances as science and technological innovations and the social response to those innovations take us places we have never experienced.”

— Regis McKenna, Silicon Valley marketing

guru, technology marketing consultant,

venture capitalist, advisor to entrepreneurs,

SCU Board of Trustees member

SCU at the Forefront

Santa Clara University’s Frugal Innovation Lab in Action

Innovation The Frugal Innovation Lab is a collaborative space for

students and faculty to work with industry partners and

NGOs to research and implement new technologies for

consumers in emerging markets. The lab environment,

along with expert faculty guidance, facilitates the critical

transition from theoretical learning to practical skill application.

FIL distinguishes itself from other international

innovation programs by closely integrating

the classroom curriculum and hands-on

work with our network of alumni from

SCU’s Global Social Benefit Incubator

(GSBI) program. Through these ready-

made partnerships, unique to Santa

Clara, students come to understand the

necessity of frugal innovation as they

address the specific design constraints

and engineering challenges faced by

social entrepreneurs.

Santa Clara University’s Frugal Innovation Lab in Action

The Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) is

the signature program of SCU’s Center for Science,

Technology, and Society. The intensive program,

which provides expert mentorship designed

specifically for social enterprises, culminates

with formal business plan presentations before

an audience of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs

and venture capitalists.

Health Management:Lab-on-a-Chip

More than one billion people in the world

are without access to drinkable water, and more than two

million deaths each year are attributed to water-borne diseases.

To address these burgeoning numbers, a FIL team created

a microfluidic sensor—a virtual lab-on-a-chip—which is

both rugged and easy to use in the field, and integrates

several complex laboratory functions onto a single chip.

The portable, fast, and accurate diagnostic device,

fabricated by this interdisciplinary group of students,

will be used in remote areas to detect the presence

of pathogens in a tiny water sample without the

need for expensive and bulky lab equipment.

Solar Home System: Green Energy for Uganda

A team of undergraduate senior electrical engineering students

collaborated with students from the Nsamizi Solar Technology Lab in

Uganda to promote the building, dissemination, and maintenance of

solar technologies in East Africa. Over the course of several immer-

sion trips, the FIL and Nsamizi team created a Solar Home System

that powers a single-family home using only readily available local

resources. Their designs are now being manufactured, installed, and

maintained by solar technicians in Uganda who have been trained

through the support network that the FIL team created in the field.

This collaboration fights energy poverty, fosters socially minded en-

trepreneurs, generates increased access to education and fair trade,

and bridges gender gaps by providing vocational training to women

who have traditionally been excluded from entrepreneurial activities.

ImmersionIt takes more than excelling at coursework and a

desire to do good to bring affordable and con-

venient health care and technologies to people in

remote areas. Through FIL, Santa Clara students

have incredible opportunities to work with social

entrepreneurs all over the world. While conducting

fieldwork, students gain invaluable insights into the

resource constraints and cultural considerations

relevant to a project by testing and implementing

their designs in the field. Through these mutually

enriching programs, students witness, firsthand,

challenges faced by marginalized communities and

are thus better prepared to address their needs.

A Lab Within a Lab: Mobile Computing for

Social Benefit

The Mobile Lab is housed in FIL and

spearheads SCU’s participation in

the explosive field of mobile health.

This “lab within a lab” provides an

environment for students to evaluate

technology solutions used in the field,

and enables the development of a

comprehensive set of mobile

applications for underserved

communities worldwide.

For example, FIL students joined

forces with social enterprise salaUno to

improve means for detecting cataracts

in patients living in remote areas of

Mexico, eliminating the need to travel

long distances to an urban clinic for

diagnosis by an eye doctor. The FIL

team developed a plan to pair an

existing $2 smartphone add-on that

scans the eye and maps cataract

locations with their own mobile app

and cloud-based storage system. Data

from the scan is merged with patient

information for review by surgeons in

salaUno’s vision centers—saving signif-

icant time and money for patients and

for the eye care innovator.

Emerging markets—consumers who are quickly moving out of poverty in nations such as China, Africa, India, and Brazil— are expected to account for 70 percent of the world’s economic growth over the next few years. Today’s emerging economies comprise 50 percent of the market for Fortune 500s.

Frugal innovation is strongly tied to social justice, but it’s not just about students doing good. It is a holistic approach that is at the intersection of altruism with the bottom line. As these technologies find their way to the mature markets of the West, they will fundamentally reshape the global economy.

The Frugal Innovation Lab: Technology to Benefit Society

With the vibrancy of emerging-market growth, the School of Engineering’s Frugal Innovation Lab (FIL) meets this new paradigm head-on by offering undergraduate and graduate courses, hosting student and faculty research projects, and partnering with field-based social enterprises in emerging markets. Impactful work is being done in simple yet powerful ways. Projects range from designs and prototypes to implemented and utilized products and services. Students learn within the lab as well as interact with field-based social entrepreneurs and global partners to solve real-world problems.

Global Healthhealth care provision, information, and management, and alert systems for disaster relief, especially with mobile devices

Clean Wateranalysis, filtration, purification, verification, distribution, management, and training

Renewable Energyalternative forms of energy generation, distribution and storage, especially to communities without access to an electrical grid

“For the United States to remain competitive, we must provide products and services to the growing masses, and we have to innovate to the needs of the billions of potential consumers at the bottom or middle of the income pyramid.”

— Radha Basu, director, Frugal Innovation Lab

Frugal Innovation for Emerging Markets

Frugal innovation is a process of problem solving —and a game-changing strategy—that addresses the need for products and services in emerging, underdeveloped countries. Features of frugal innovation include ruggedization, simplification, sparing use of low-cost raw materials, an emphasis on earth-friendly practices, and a philosophy that favors “doing more with less” in creating compassionate, user-centric design.

Through the Frugal Innovation Lab’s primary technology focus areas—mobile devices, cloud platforms, and 3D printing—solutions are pioneered to address human needs in three main areas:

How you can become involved:

Studentsn Take an undergraduate or graduate course through the Frugal Innovation Lab that offers hands-on industry experience and knowledge n Attend workshops and seminars hosted by FIL, with emphasis on topics such as mobile app developmentn Join your professor on a cutting-edge research projectn Work with social entrepreneursn Tailor your senior design project to work with enterprises

that use technology to benefit society

Facultyn Apply for a course release to teach a technical elective or an area-specific class in the Frugal Innovation Lab n Co-teach a class n Join us as a guest lecturer n Invite students to work on a research project

Supportersn Sponsor a senior design projectn Host a workshopn Mentor our teamsn Fund a student competitionn Ask us about the numerous opportunities for individuals and organizations to support our program

FIL PartnersPartnerships with academic institutions, industry leaders, and NGO networks provide expertise to our projects and help to expand Santa Clara University’s contribution to the innovation ecosystem. FIL continually seeks ways to leverage its expertise to maximize social impact through the following partnering opportunities:n Incubating entrepreneurial projects with industry mentors n Hosting corporate workshops for the developing worldn Consulting with corporate partners, nonprofits, and foundations

For more information:

Frugal Innovation LabSchool of EngineeringSanta Clara University500 El Camino RealSanta Clara, CA 95053

408-554-2334FIL@scu.edu

www.scu.edu/engineering/frugal

The Jesuit University in Silicon Valley

SC

U O

MC

-816

5A

9/20

13 1

000FPO