Newsroom
Awards & Recognition
“Mashavu Paper (Validation Process for a Social Entrepreneurial Telemedicine Venture in East Africa) Wins Third Place at Africana Research Center’s Research Competition” Africana Research Center, February 2010
Mashavu awarded First Place in the Public Scholarship Category at the Undergraduate Research Exhibition at Penn State University
Grants announced for student service projects – May 6, 2008
“Lewistown’s Fleishman has award-winning idea”
The Sentinel, March 25, 2008.
Media Coverage
Mashavu featured in the “For the Future” Capital Campaign at Penn State, Spring 2010
Mashavu featured in the Penn State Outreach Magazine, Spring 2010
“Telemedicine Brings Low-Cost Medical Care to Africa”
Terry Costlow, Contributing Editor — Design News, February 1, 2010
“The Mashavu Project: Penn State Students Assist the People of East Africa”
Becky Jacoby, Reporter — DOTmed News, September 22, 2009
“Penn State Program Brings Low-Cost Medical Care to Africa”
Karen Field, Editor in Chief – Design News, August 13, 2009
“March Madness for the Mind: Mashavu’s Medical Web”
Bloomberg Businessweek, March 2009
“Mashavu team presents at NIWeek 2009″(video)
National Instruments – August 2009
“Group receives funding”
The Daily Collegian, March 27, 2008.
“Lewistown’s Fleishman has award-winning idea”
The Sentinel, March 25, 2008.
“Student’s plan to bridge health care void”
Centre Daily Times, March 24, 2008.
Mashavu in D.C.
The Mashavu team participated in the 2009 March Madness of the Mind Expo, which was held at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The event, hosted by The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA), showcased the inventive efforts of 15 collegiate teams which were selected from approximately 100 applicants. Four representatives from the more than 77 members of the Mashavu team attended and particpated with a presentation and various posters, relaying the development of their project which aims to bring better health care to developing communities in Africa.
Click here to read the projects abstracts on the NCIIA webite.
Click here to read the article from Business Week that highlights the entire event and procides a slide show.
Publications
Fleishman, A., Wittig, J., Milnes, J., Baxter, A., Moreau, J., Mehta, K., “Validation Process for a Social Entrepreneurial Venture in Tanzania: A Case Study”, International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering: Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship , Spring 2010
Abstract: Mashavu (“chubby-cheeked” in Swahili) is a telemedicine system under development that connects medical professionals around the world with people in developing communities in East Africa. Mashavu kiosks are computer-based systems that collect medical information including weight, body temperature, lung capacity, pulse rate, blood pressure, stethoscope rhythms, photographs and basic hygiene and nutrition information. Mashavu kiosks transmit this information over a cell-phone link to a secure internet website. Medical professionals and public health officials can view the patient’s information and respond to the person/operator with recommendations. An imperative part of complex product design, especially when working in international contexts, is to gain validation. Validation ensures that the product being designed accurately fits the needs of the population for which it is being designed. The Mashavu team used methodologies from the world of engineering, business, and the social sciences to validate the concept, business plan, technology and usability of the system. This paper discusses the Mashavu venture and the methodologies employed for getting validation and uncovering the “sticky information” related to the East African context that is critical to the design and commercialization of the Mashavu telemedicine system.
Turner, C., Mehta, K., “Development of Code of Ethics for a Social Entrepreneurial Telemedicine Venture in Kenya“, NCIIA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, March 2010
Abstract: Students at the Pennsylvania State University are working on a social entrepreneurial venture in Kenya called Mashavu: Networked Health Solutions for the enables medical professionals to connect with patients in rural communities. The Mashavu kiosk operators, medical practitioners, website administrators, and other individuals connected to the Mashavu network are expected to adhere to the highest principles of ethical conduct. We had developed Code of Ethics for Mashavu based on universal health policies and guidelines. Our observations and lessons learned while conducting field research in Kenya have forced us to rethink our approach to developing and ensuring compliance with our Code of Ethics. This study explores the realities of privacy, liability, trust, hygiene, quality, business practices, and social customs in developing communities and discusses the systems thinking methodology we are employing to develop the ethical, policy, and compliance framework to roll out the Mashavu venture.
Stepler, R., Garguilo., S., Mehta, K., Bilen, S., “Applying systems thinking for realizing the mission of technology-based social ventures in Africa”, Systems Engineering Division, ASEE Annual Conference, 2010
Abstract: There are many university initiatives that focus on technology-based solutions to address the needs of marginalized communities. The technology-based solutions are intended to be economically and socially sustainable. These endeavors are usually well-meaning, creatively designed, and enthusiastically deployed, but do not achieve the sustainable impact envisioned at the outset of the projects. To addresses these shortcomings, at The Pennsylvania State University we are applying three key tenets of systems thinking to our humanitarian engineering and social entrepreneurial ventures: 1) employing regulation via feedback to ensure that the system is actually working; 2) defining systems by their interactions and their parts; and 3) understanding that systems exhibit multi-finality. The concept of multi-finality refers to (designing) a system where the individual actors (inputs), the subsystems, and their interactions, all meet their own goals while the system as a whole also meets its goals. In this paper, we lay the framework for the application of specific systems thinking concepts to increase the probability of success of global development ventures. We provide simple yet compelling examples from two different ventures to illustrate the power of systems thinking to train innovative problem-solvers and increase the probability of success of technology-based social entrepreneurial ventures in Africa.