Engineering & Humanity Week - 2013

 

What's your Plastiki? The star attraction of E&H Week 2013 is back at Fair Park, but this time as a featured exhibit at the State Fair of Texas through Oct. 20. The Plastiki is docked at Main Gate Plaza, adjacent to the Front Gate of Fair Park on Parry Avenue and DART's Fair Park light rail station. The message of the Plastiki is multifaceted: to care for nature and the environment; to take responsibility to recycle plastic water bottles and other recyclables—the Plastiki proves that used plastic can be a valuable resource if re-purposed in a smart manner; and to encourage youth and adults alike to pursue their dreams and passions. The Plastiki is an exemplar—a metaphor for following your dreams. It stands for curiosity, imagination, innovation and adventure. 

Photos by Michael Hacker.


Congratulations 2013 Award Winners

David de Rothschild

and

Emmanuel Jal

 

Meet British adventurer and ecologist David de Rothschild and tour his one-of-a-kind catamaran, the PLASTIKI. This amazing boat is made from 12,500 plastic bottles assembled with an earth-friendly glue created from sugar and cashews. David made maritime history in 2010 when he sailed his unique recycled ship 8,000 miles across the Pacific. His expedition was an engineering first, bringing global attention to the South Pacific garbage patch – a swirling mass of plastic trash twice the size of Texas. To honor this achievement, David will be the recipient of the Engineering & Humanity Week 2013 Visionary Award

Hear world-famous Hip-Hop artist Emmanuel Jal, the 2013 E&H Week Humanitarian Award winner. This Sudanese musician and former child soldier is a humanitarian advocate for social justice and human rights. Jal's international hit We Want Peace features strings by Peter Gabriel and his message has garnered support from George Clooney, Alicia Keys, Richard Branson, Kofi Annan, and more. Jal is a former child soldier and Lost Boy from Sudan. The documentary War Child about Jal won the '08 Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The Water Tap at The Living Village is being dedicated to Katie Spotz, adventurer and safe water activist. In 2010, she set the world record as the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic (3,000 miles). Along the way, she raised $150,000 for safe water projects in Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Kenya. Since then, her adventurous spirit continues to raise awareness about worthy causes. Her "Schools for Water" program raised $100,000 with the help of 10 U.S. schools to provide clean drinking water to 10 Kenyan schools.

 

 

We have all heard the stark warning signs: the world population is increasing, access to fresh water is declining, our oceans are under threat of overfishing & environmental damage, and one of the great sources of conflict in the 21st century may well be water.  We face the challenge of "peak water" and running out of the one resource we truly need to survive 

Yet there is good news.  At Engineering & Humanity Week 2013 we will focus on the positive ripple effects people can inspire when confronted with our current challenges.   

Other E&H Week events in association with Southern Methodist University (SMU) include:

Barefoot on the Green: music festival and earth celebration

Immersion Design Competition: Biomimicry + Water + Refugees

The Water DistributionCamp

Student Water Bottle Challenge

Seminar – What is it like to work in a humanitarian crisis?

Living on One – conversation and documentary - The experience of two students who travelled to Guatemala and lived on a dollar a day

Global Thought Leaders Panel – Water and Refugees

Click here to see a complete E&H Week Program

2013 Resources

Program

Participants

Sponsors

Video

About Hunt Institute

Media

Resources

Biomimicry Challenge

Plastiki Kids

Plastiki Gallery

 

 

Featured Participants - 2013