Building on the success of Bangladesh Challenge, JI is launching Global Sustainable Entrepreneurial Engineering Design (SEED) Projects in Fall 2019. We are calling current junior students from both ME and ECE to apply for the inaugural project. See website for more details on how to apply. An information session will be held at the JI-CFE office (room 304) on Wednesday, June 26th.

Faculty Mentors: Kwee-Yan Teh, Sam Ro, Pradeep Ray

The Global SEED projects aim at engaging Joint Institute senior students in multidisciplinary engineering design for global sustainable development. Specifically, the inaugural projects in Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 will address real needs of partner non-profit enterprises in Bangladesh to promote the sustainable development of this Belt-and-Road nation.

  • Project 1: Pay-As-You-Go for LPG In partnership with Grameen Shakti, one project team will design and prototype a Pay-As-You-Go liquid petroleum gas (LPG) system to allow low-income Bangladeshi households to purchase LPG in small amounts without upfront fuel costs. [click here for more details]
  • Project 2: Salinity meter for Coastal Bangladesh In partnership with icddr,b, another project team will design and prototype a groundwater salinity measurement and monitoring system for deployment in coastal Bangladesh. [click here for more details]

Upon successful completion of the Global SEED projects, members of the project teams will earn Vg450 and Vg451 credits and thus fulfill the ECE and ME Capstone Design requirement for graduation.


2019 – 2020 Global SEED Schedule

  • Jun 26 (Wed): Information session (2 PM, Center for Entrepreneurship, Long Bin Room 304)
  • Jul 3 (Wed): Application due
  • Week of Aug 25–31: Bangladesh visit for need-finding and sponsor meetings (one member per team)
  • Fall 2019: Preliminary design (Vg450)
  • Dec 11 (Wed): Design Expo
  • Week 1, Spring 2020: Bangladesh visit (to be confirmed) for prototype field testing (all team members)
  • Feb–May: Iterative re-design (Vg451)
  • Week 10, Spring 2020: Final design and prototype delivery

How to Apply

Prepare a three-page application (PDF only) consisting of
  • Your Resume
  • Your Statement of Purpose — one or more paragraphs of reflection on questions such as
    • What are the reasons I apply to work on the Global SEED projects?
    • What strengths do I bring to the Global SEED project teams?
    • What are the goals I intend to achieve at the end of the Global SEED projects?
  • Your Statement of Commitment — reprint of the following statement
    • “I commit to a full term of participation in the Global SEED projects, which spans the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters.”
  • Your Unofficial SJTU Transcript (in English)

Send your application to ji-cfe@sjtu.edu.cn by Wednesday, July 3, 2019.
For informal inquiries contact
Dr. Kwee-yan Teh: tehk@sjtu.edu.cn
Dr. Sam Ro: soong-chul.ro@sjtu.edu.cn