Engineering development for humanity

D80 programs, six and counting, have existed since 1997 to help partnering communities around the world. More than a dozen faculty and 350 students have contributed their efforts to make D80 a success.

Our Mission

The D80 Center is dedicated to assisting the most vulnerable 80% of humanity in meeting their basic needs for food, water, shelter, sanitation, waste disposal, energy, income, and education. During their years at Michigan Tech, D80 participants will learn to view the challenges and opportunities facing humanity via a multi-disciplinary lens. Through extensive opportunities on campus and in developing communities, participants will acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitude necessary to make a positive impact in the lives of the world's most under-served, while becoming leaders in their chosen fields.

Our Vision

The D80 Center will educate students who see the needs that exist in the world and feel empowered to address them. It will combine the expertise of all of the participating programs; collaborate for education, research, and service; and actively work towards bi-directional knowledge transfer with partner communities. Taken as a whole, the D80 Center will provide opportunities for service-oriented international involvement to university students at all educational levels, from first-year undergraduates to doctoral candidates, as well as all university staff and faculty.

The D80 Center's programs encourage service, creativity and innovation, leadership, social justice, global thinking, and knowledge creation. The Center will use its international resources to innovate and transfer knowledge between both the developing and developed worlds. It will enhance its knowledge sharing capacities to assist other organizations in adapting our experiences for their efforts.