80% of the earth's inhabitants are not considered by designers of infrastructure, goods, and services.
Dream / design / develop / discover / deliver / do something that matters.
Everyone must play a role in elevating the quality of life for all while ensuring future generations can thrive. This starts with better education, the courage to serve others, and the ability to envision new solutions.
The programs within Michigan Tech's D80 Center provide many education, service and research opportunities for students, staff, and faculty interested in gaining valuable professional experience while making a difference in the lives of others today.
About Us
D80 programs have existed since 1996 to work on solutions for prosperity with partnering communities around the world. More than a twenty faculty and 500 students have contributed their efforts to make D80 a success.
Our Mission
Dedicated to prosperity by design, the D80 Center aims to assist the most vulnerable 80% of humanity in meeting their basic needs for food, water, shelter, sanitation, waste disposal, energy, income, and education. During their years at Michigan Tech, D80 participants learn to view the challenges and opportunities facing humanity via a multi-disciplinary perspective. With extensive opportunities on campus and in economically developing communities, participants acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitude necessary to make a positive impact in the lives of the world's most under-served, while becoming leaders in their chosen fields. Through this engagement, the D80 Center makes better professionals and citizens.
Our Vision
The D80 Center will educate students, faculty, staff, and partners who see the needs that exist in the world and feel empowered to address them. It will combine the expertise of all of the participating programs; collaborate for education, research, and service; and actively work towards bi-directional knowledge transfer with partner communities. The D80 Center will provide opportunities for service-oriented international involvement to university students of all disciplines and all educational levels, from first-year undergraduates to doctoral candidates, as well as all interested university staff and faculty.
The D80 Center's programs will encourage service, creativity and innovation, leadership, social justice, global thinking, and knowledge creation. The Center will use its international resources to innovate and transfer knowledge between all participants. It will enhance its knowledge sharing capacities to assist other organizations in adapting our experiences to their efforts. It will always focus on design that matters.