University of Dayton - ETHOS Program

The ETHOS (Engineers in Technology and Humanitarian Opportunities of Service) program was developed in the spring of 2001 by an interdisciplinary group of undergraduate engineering students for the University of Dayton School of Engineering. What began as a partnership between the University of Dayton and Aprovecho Research Center in Oregon quickly grew into an organization bringing together engineering students, faculty, researchers and field personnel from various universities, research institutions and international aid organizations. ETHOS is founded on the belief that engineers are more apt and capable to serve our world appropriately when they have experienced opportunities that increase their understanding of technology's global linkage with values, culture, society, politics, and economy. ETHOS seeks to provide these opportunities through international service internships, student organization activities, collaborative research and hands-on classroom projects that support the development of appropriate technologies for the developing world, locally and globally. Such experiences expose students to alternative, non-traditional technologies that are based on fundamental science and engineering principles, but that have such tangible and immediate impacts on improving the lives of those who use them. ETHOS maintains as its educational objective to challenge students to think creatively and independently, to work as a team and communicate effectively, and address issues of appropriate technology, environmental ethics, social responsibility, and cultural sensitivity. Such exposure, both inside and outside the classroom, allows students to recognize the far-reaching effects, positive and negative, of engineering and technology and thus the responsibilities of being an engineer in our ever-increasing global society.