A photo of a student in Dr. MacCarty’s field course in Guatemala, carrying out humanitarian engineering work.
A Q&A with Oregon State University’s Dr. Nordica MacCarty
Many engineers are drawn to the field because of the impact engineers can have on businesses, communities and the world as a whole. But many engineering education programs are more focused on practical skills and their applications rather than their potential for social, environmental or economic impact.
Humanitarian engineering programs — like Oregon State University’s online Undergraduate Certificate in Humanitarian Engineering — address the gap between practical skills and the visionary application of that knowledge. The field of humanitarian engineering evolves as the world’s needs change, making the field one full of excitement — and often, questions that need answers.
Oregon State associate professor and humanitarian engineer Dr. Nordica MacCarty took the time to answer common questions about the range of applications of this engineering field, its career prospects and how the skills gained in OSU’s humanitarian engineering certificate can help you improve the quality of life for people everywhere.
Dr. Nordica MacCarty works in the College of Engineering, with a strong research background in humanitarian engineering.
1. What is humanitarian engineering?
Nearly all engineers are arguably working to make the world a better place, but you can think of humanitarian engineering as engineering within a broader context. Humanitarian engineers carefully consider the social, environmental and economic aspects of a problem in addition to the purely technical ones.
With this mindset, they work across disciplines to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges in energy, clean water, public health and many more areas in need of attention.
2. Who benefits from the work humanitarian engineers do?
Generally, the majority of our work is focused on solutions that can directly benefit underserved communities and the environment. Humanitarian engineering projects typically work toward meeting basic needs, supporting social and environmental justice and building capacity for communities including First Nations, people with varying types of disabilities, under-resourced areas and the Global South.
3. How does humanitarian engineering relate to other engineering disciplines?
Humanitarian engineering coursework helps students to adopt a design-thinking approach that is supported by tools and methods from other disciplines like social sciences and entrepreneurship and can be applied to many types of projects. All types of engineers can add humanitarianism to their specialties, enhancing their leadership, communication and collaboration abilities. Historically, our program has been a great fit for mechanical engineers, but we’ve had students from all engineering disciplines benefit.
4. What types of career opportunities can the humanitarian engineering certificate prepare students for?
Motivated humanitarian engineers can successfully make their way in a wide range of fulfilling careers, including both traditional engineering and nontraditional career paths. For those who prefer to work at a traditional engineering firm, a background in humanitarian engineering supports placement in positions requiring in-demand skills, like user-centered design approaches, systems thinking and multidisciplinary collaboration.
For those looking toward less traditionally defined paths, there are opportunities in multinational organizations, nonprofits and government agencies that support global development, social and environmental justice, public health and environmental policy.
5. What makes the humanitarian engineering certificate a good fit for online education?
Offering the certificate online via Ecampus allows us to bring students from diverse backgrounds together to generate more effective solutions. We welcome students from all disciplines, geographies, ages and walks of life to join in learning to collaborate across cultures and distance — a hallmark skill of engineers in the 21st century.
6. What are some of the unique features of the Oregon State’s online humanitarian engineering certificate?
One unique aspect of OSU’s humanitarian engineering certificate is the requirement for an experiential learning and engagement credential. To meet this requirement, students work directly with stakeholders through internships, research, study abroad, clubs like Engineers Without Borders or specific courses.
Based in principles of fair-trade learning, these experiences ensure that external partners ultimately benefit as much as if not more than the students from the collaboration. Past students have had excellent learning experiences as they engaged with organizations such as animal shelters, preschools, resale organizations, community gardens and parks departments.
Ready to increase your engineering impact tenfold?
You can add the humanitarian engineering certificate to your degree program or complete it after you’ve earned your degree as a standalone credential.
