In its inaugural year, the Human Rights & Technology Program has awarded six research fellowships to MIT undergraduates. (The fellowship now offers fellowships to both undergraduate and graduate students.) Their projects are expansive, and include field work in Africa and South Asia and a variety of topics.  Four of them in different ways address the human right to health care or healthy environments and how technology can ensure good outcomes. 

Human Rights & Technology Fellows, 2018-2019

Lauren Cooper, junior, Materials Science and Engineering, will visit three cities in India to develop assistive technologies for improved health care outcomes.

Ronit Langer, senior, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, intends to examine safety issues related to bioengineering and biological weapons.

Emily Ryeom, senior, Biological Engineering, will develop transportation solutions to address accessibility problems in health care in Tanzania, specifically regarding maternal care.

Swochchhanda Shrestha, junior, Aerospace Engineering, is working with a D-Lab team to develop low-cost ways of testing water for E-coli to ensure people’s rights to clean water in Nepal.

Ike Urquhart, senior, Materials Science and Engineering, is working on a D-Lab team in Nepal to invent a cheap kit to test water, a technique that enables communities, institutions like hospitals, and even households to ensure safe drinking water.

Eke Wokocha, junior, Brain and Cognitive Science, will explore different aspects of social media manipulation in relation to human rights.