American University of Beirut

Academic Initiatives

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

    Design Course



    HEI offe​rs its flagship course on Humanitarian Engineering: "Designing Solutions for Health Challenges in Crises" annually. This course encourages participants to use engineering designs to address humanitarian challenges through collaborative reflections. It is attended by professionals and students from various backgrounds (public health, humanities, engineering, ...) and from different countries. ​​​​​​​​The course is a 3-credit course that has been organized in collaboration with the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and International Health at Boston University.



    • About the Course

    ​​​​​​The course model is made of several components including interactive lectures and field visits to underpriviliged communities of people affected by protracted crisis (ex. refugee settlements)​ and facilities for interviews with care workers and refugees. Students work in teams to conduct needs assessments, identify problems, ideate, design, and prototype solutions. We welcome all students and professionals from all over the world. Additional Information about the course is available in this brochure

     ​​

    • Previous Offerings


    Minor Program

    ​​​​​Minor in Humanitarian Engineering and Public Health Innovations​

    The Minor in Humanitarian Engineering and Public Health Innovations is offered jointly by the Faculty of ​Health Sciences and the Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture.

    The minor is open to undergraduate students from all majors. It is a multidisciplinary offering that provides undergraduate students wit​h the knowledge of the humanitarian engineering field, and equips them with the skills required to find innovative design solutions for challenges faced by disadvantaged populations taking into consideration two complementary persp​ectives; public health perspective and engineering perspective.

    Competencies

    Students who complete the minor will be able to:

    1. Apply participatory needs assessment tools and analyze the different dimensions of a public health problem
    2. Apply formal design methods to develop practical, feasible, scalable, and sustainable humanitarian engineering and public health innovations and interventions
    3. Apply skills required to manage complex projects while working in multidisciplinary teams
    4. Demonstrate entrepreneurial skills to take a solution/intervention from prototype to  product
    5. Articulate and adhere to ethical standards in the process followed and in the intervention designed
    6. Present and document a problem and its solution to a diverse target audience

    Requirements for the Minor

    The minor in Humanitarian Engineering and Public Health Innovations consists of 15 credits, according to the following requirements: 

    Students interested to enroll in the minor are encouraged to inform the coordinators of the program at healthengineering@aub.edu.lb  to benefit from adequate advising on study plans and ensure completion of all requirements.

    HEHI 201 - Foundations of Humanitarian Engineering a​nd Public Health Innovations;  3 crs.

    This is a multidisciplinary course that covers fundamentals of designing solutions for health challenges faced by disadvantaged populations. It introduces tools for identifying humanitarian and/or development needs and designing practical, scalable and sustainable solutions and interventions. The course is offered to students from all majors. Students will be exposed to health and health system challenges in addition to design fundamentals including participatory needs assessment, formal multidisciplinary design processes, and relevant technologies and tools with real world applications and case studies.​

    HEHI  202 - “Capstone: Humanitarian Engineering and Public Health Innovations Capstone"; 3 crs. 

    The capstone project course is an interdisciplinary service learning design course focused on development and humanitarian engineering solutions for health challenges. The capstone is divided into two sub-courses, HEHI  202A (1cr.) and HEHI  202B (2cr.), and must be registered in 2 consecutive semesters. In the capstone, students apply all tools learned in HEHI 201. Students work in multidisciplinary teams with disadvantaged communities, under joint supervision of at least two mentors from MSFEA, FHS, and other faculties.​

    Prerequisite: HEHI  201

    Upon prior approval of the students' advisor and the coordinators of the Humanitarian Engineering Initiative, students who are required, as part of their degree requirement, to complete a capstone or final year project, can count that experience towards fulfilling the capstone requirement for the minor.

    To graduate with the minor, a student must attain a cumulative average of 70 or more in courses taken to satisfy its requirements.

    Certificate Option

    Students can opt for a certificate in Humanitarian Engineering and Public Health Innovations.

    The “Humanitarian Engineering and Public Health Innovations" certificate requirements are:

    • HEHI 201, “Foundations of Humanitarian Engineering and Public Health Innovations"
    • HEHI 202, “Capstone: Humanitarian Engineering and Public Health Innovations Capstone"
    • An internship approved by the Humanitarian Engineering Initiative of at least 8 weeks full-time

    Students should declare the certificate before completing the requirements.

    Upon prior approval of the students' advisor and the coordinators of the Humanitarian Engineering Initiative, students who are required, as part of their degree requirement, to complete an internship or practicum, can also count that experience towards fulfilling the internship requirement for the certificate.​




    Diploma Program

    ​Diploma​ in Humanitarian Engineering and Public Health Innovations​

    The Diploma in Humanitarian Engineering and Public Health Innovations is a joint FHS/MSFEA interdisciplinary diploma.

    The Diploma is open to professionals as well as AUB students currently enrolled in graduate programs from all majors wishing to gain academic knowledge and skills in the field of Humanitarian Engineering and Health Innovations. The program is a multidisciplinary offering that provides graduate students and professionals with the skills required to find innovative design solutions for challenges faced in humanitarian settings by taking into consideration two complementary perspectives, public health perspective and engineering perspective.

    Competencies

    Students who complete the minor will be able to:

    1. Apply participatory needs assessment tools and analyze the different dimensions of a public health problem
    2. Apply formal design methods to develop practical, feasible, scalable, and sustainable humanitarian engineering and public health innovations and interventions
    3. Apply skills required to manage complex projects while working in multidisciplinary teams
    4. Demonstrate entrepreneurial skills to take a solution/intervention from prototype to  product
    5. Articulate and adhere to ethical standards in the process followed and in the intervention designed
    6. Present and document a problem and its solution to a diverse target audience

     

    Requirements for the Diploma

    It is composed of 15 credits of course work according to the following requirements:

    • HEHI 301, “Foundations of Humanitarian Engineering and Public Health Innovations"

     

    HEHI 301 - “ Foundations of Humanitarian Engineering a nd Public Health Innovations"; 3 crs.

    ​This is a multidisciplinary course that covers fundamentals of designing solutions for health challenges faced by disadvantaged populations. It introduces tools for identifying humanitarian and/or development needs and designing practical, scalable and sustainable solutions and interventions. The course is offered to students from all majors. Students will be exposed to health and health system challenges in addition to design fundamentals including participatory needs assessment, formal multidisciplinary design processes, and relevant technologies and tools with real world applications and case studies.

     

    HEHI  302 - “Capstone: Humanitarian Engineering and Public Health Innovations Capstone"; 3 crs.

    The capstone project course is an interdisciplinary service learning design course focused on development and humanitarian engineering solutions for health challenges. The capstone is divided into two sub-courses, HEHI  302A (1cr.) and HEHI  302B (2cr.), and must be registered in 2 consecutive semesters. In the capstone, students apply all tools learned in HEHI 301. Students work in multidisciplinary teams with disadvantaged communities, under joint supervision of at least two mentors from MSFEA, FHS, and other faculties.

    ​Prerequisite: HEHI  301


    If the student has achieved one or more of the core competencies in Ethics or Entrepreneurship through previously passed undergraduate or graduate courses, only one elective course can be waived. The student will have to register at least one course from the approved list of Design courses, and another course from either the list of Ethics courses or the list of Entrepreneurship courses.

    If the student has achieved two or all of the core competencies through undergraduate courses, only one course can be waived, and the student will have to register at least one course from the approved list of Design courses, and another course from either the list of Ethics courses or the list of Entrepreneurship courses

    Thesis/capstones of graduate students can be counted towards the fulfillment of the diploma.

    Students interested to enroll in the diploma are encouraged to inform the coordinators of the program at healthengineering@aub.edu.lb  to benefit from adequate advising on study plans and ensure completion of all requirements.

    The diploma is planned to include arrangements to encourage on-going graduate students to enroll with no or limited additional credit burdens. It is composed of 15 credits of graduate course work.

     

    Eligibility criteria

    For professionals:

    To be eligible for admission to the diploma program, an applicant must hold an undergraduate university degree recognized by AUB with an average of at least 75 or demonstrate “reasonable potential for academic success". 

    For AUB students:

    To be eligible for admission to the diploma program, an applicant must be in good academic standing. Applications are reviewed by the Steering Committee of the Humanitarian Engineering Initiative, and admissions recommendations are voted on by both MSFEA and FHS Graduate Studies Committee.

     

    Registration process

    • ​Professionals who want to pursue the diploma submit an application to the Office of Admissions. Apply before the end of July! 
    • ​Current AUB graduate students need to fill out a petition form for completion of diploma. ​



    Current Projects

    ​​​​​​​Integrating the WEFRAH Nexus in Humanitarian Engineering​


    This project aims to engage faculty members and students from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences (FAFS) at AUB in the Humanitarian Engineering course.  It supports students’ projects through seed funds to ​scale up some of the developed solutions/prototypes in the course that address the water-energy-food-health (WEFRAH) nexus.​

    Broadening Impact​


    ​A three year grant was awarded by the Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture Trust Fund with the aim to broaden the impact of the Humanitarian Engineering Initiative via:

    • Developing new educational material;
    • Providing AUB students with international humanitarian engineering related academic or internship opportunities;
    • Hosting students for their practicum or internship and fund the implementation and assessment of interventions in the field;
    • Offering capacity building workshops and training on relevant professional skills such as writing grants and social entrepreneurship in the field of humanitarian engineering and development.​





    Completed Projects

    ​​​Solveathon


    ​​In June 2019, a 1-day Solveathon was carried out as part of of the Solve initiative at MIT with the purpose to connect innovators with resources to solve global challenges.

    During the workshop, the HEI team trained AUB students along with members of the Youth Committee of our partner community in Sin El Fil.

    The aim was to introduce Community-Driven Innovation and Healthy Cities, and train youth to focus on challenges facing their community and design innovative solutions.​

    ​​​Pre-College Mentoring Program 2019​​​



    With the rapid advancement of technology, it is important to provide the younger generation with the skills and knowledge they need to keep up with the vast technological potential.

    HEI participated in a Pre-College mentoring program in 2019 during which we delivered hands-on training modules in Electrical Engineering and Robotics with health applications for Grade 11 students.

    The aim was to train high school students before they start their post-secondary education.​​​​​



    Contact Us

    For various questions, please try contacting us via social media first!
    read more

    Privacy Statement

    We take data privacy seriously and adhere to all applicable data privacy laws and regulations.
    read more

    Copyright and Disclaimer

    Written permission is needed to copy or disseminate all or part of the materials on the AUB website.
    read more

    Title IX, Non-Discrimination, and Anti-Discriminatory Harassment

    AUB is committed to providing a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment to all members of its community.
    read more