IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC)
Technology for the Benefit of Humanity // Colorado Schools of Mines, USA / October 22-25, 2025

Program Grid 2021

GHTC 2021 Program Grid

NOTE: All Times are Pacific Daylight Time – Add 3 hours for ET and 7 hours for GMT

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Time Slot
(Pacific Time)

Plenary

Track 1

Track 2

Track 3

9:00 AM -12:00 PM

Workshop
Frugal Innovation and the Design Thinking Process
(Allan Baez Morales, Frugal Innovation Hub, Santa Clara University)

Workshop
Fundamentals of Off-Grid Electrical Systems
(Henry Louie, Seattle U)

Workshop
Application of IoT During Pre- and Post-COVID 19 Pandemic
 (Shiva Mathapathi, CEO, Dew Mobility; Farid Farahmand, Sonoma State U)

Workshop
Distributed Energy meets Humanitarian Needs
(Mark Siira, Wayne Stec, IEEE SA SCC 21; Panos Moutis, CMU)
12:00 – 1:00 PM

Lunch Break & Networking Session
3:00 – 3:45 PM

Meet the Editors: Thinking About Publishing for a Transdisciplinary Outlet: What do you need to know?
3:45 – 4:00 PM

Break/Networking Session
4:00 – 6:00 PM

Student Poster Competition
6:00 – 6:15 PM

Poll: Who did the Best Job?

 

Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Time Slot
(Pacific Time)		 Track 1 Track 2 Track 3
8:45 – 9 AM Opening Remarks
9:00-9:40 AM Plenary Talk:
Widening Access to Applied Machine Learning with TinyML
(Dr. Vijay Janapa Reddi, Harvard University)
9:40-9:45 AM Break
9:45-10:30 AM Plenary Talk:
Internet Coverage is Not Binary
(Dr. Elizabeth M. Belding, University of California, Santa Barbara)
10:30-10:40 AM Break
10:40 AM – 12 PM Healthcare 1:
Applications Supporting Visual Impairments		 Disaster Mitigation 1:
Role of Web-based Services and Social Media Channels During Global Pandemic Situations		 Energy 1:
Off-Grid Electrification
 
12 PM – 1 PM Lunch Break & Networking Session:
Disaster Mitigation, Agriculture, Healthcare, Education, Connectivity, Energy, Water
1 – 1:50 PM Plenary Panel:
Social Media Disinformation and its Impact on Public Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic
(Moderator: Dr. Yuhong Liu, Santa Clara University)
1:50 – 2 PM Break
2 – 2:30 PM Plenary Presentation:
Lessons Learned from MOVE
(Mary Ellen and Grayson Randall, IEEE MOVE Team)
2:30 – 2:40 PM Break
2:40 – 4:00 PM Healthcare 2:
Medical Technology		 Disaster Mitigation 2:
Data Transmission and Communication During Disasters		 Energy 2:
Sustainable Grid Technologies
4:30 PM – 5 PM Networking Session:
Disaster Mitigation, Agriculture, Healthcare, Education, Connectivity, Energy, Water

Thursday, October 21, 2021
Time Slot
(Pacific Time)		 Track 1 Track 2 Track 3
9:00-9:40 AM Plenary Talk:
Public Interest Tech: Educating Impact-focused Scholars and Practitioners
(Dr. Deborah Estrin, Cornell Tech)
9:40-9:45 AM Break
9:45-10:30 AM Plenary Talk:
Making Sense of Sensing Applications for Agricultural Applications
(Dr. Anna Forster, University of Bremen)
10:30-10:40 AM Break
10:40 AM – 12 PM Agriculture 1:
Technology Adoption in Agriculture		 Healthcare 3:
Supporting Stakeholder Engagement		 Education 1:
Online Service Learning
 
12 PM -1 PM Lunch Break & Networking Session:
Disaster Mitigation, Agriculture, Healthcare, Education, Connectivity, Energy, Water
1 – 2 PM Plenary Panel:
Tech Innovations for Healthy Aging
(Moderator: Joseph Wei, Technology Ventures Group)
2 – 2:50 PM Plenary Panel:
Advancing IEEE Leadership Through New Initiatives on Sustainable Development and Energy Transformation
(Moderator: Rudi Schubert, IEEE Standards)
2:50 – 3:00 PM Break
3:00 – 4:30 PM Agriculture 2:
Technology Adoption in Agriculture		 Disaster Mitigation 3:
Aerial Monitoring System for disaster response and recovery		 Education 2:
Professional Preparation of Social Entrepreneurs
4:30 PM – 5 PM Networking Session:
Disaster Mitigation, Agriculture, Healthcare, Education, Connectivity, Energy, Water

Friday, October 22, 2021
Time Slot
(Pacific Time)		 Track 1 Track 2 Track 3
9:00-09:40 AM Plenary Talk:
Hearing Aids and Internet-of-Things Ecosystem
(Dr. Octav Chipara, The University of Iowa)
9:40-9:45 AM Break
9:45-10:30 AM Plenary Talk:
Innovations and challenges in developing Medical Devices
(Dr. Farid Farahmand, Sonoma State University)
10:30 – 10:40 AM Break
10:40 AM – 12 PM Agriculture 3:
Technology Adoption in Agriculture		 Communications based Applications and Issues Energy 3:
Human-Centered Design of Energy Applications
 
12 PM -1 PM Lunch Break & Networking Session:
Disaster Mitigation, Agriculture, Healthcare, Education, Connectivity, Energy, Water
1 – 2 PM
 Plenary Panel:
Think Global, Act Local: Fostering Engineering Knowledge and Capacity for Impact
(Moderator: Iana Aranda, Director, Engineering Global Development, ASME and President, Engineering for Change)
2:10 – 3:00 PM Plenary Talk:
Federal Policies, Programs and Funding Opportunities on Humanitarian Engineering
(Aline McNaull, Senior Legislative Representative, IEEE-USA)
3:10 – 4:20 PM Education 3 Water and Sanitation Applications and Issues Energy 4:
Energy Conversion and Storage for Humanitarian Applications
4:30 – 5 PM

Closing Session and Student Poster Contest & Best Papers Awards