Richard Filley, director of the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, has won honorable mention in the global 2012 Dell Social Innovation Education Awards.
The awards are given for commitment to supporting and mentoring students involved in developing innovative solutions to social problems, fostering creativity in classroom teaching methods and dedication to building institutional support for social innovation education.
The EPICS at ASU program gives students opportunities to put their engineering skills to use to help solve community challenges. Filley has directed the program since its start in 2009. More than 20 EPICS teams from his classes have won awards and start-up funding for their entrepreneurial and public service endeavors.
The EPICS team FlashFood won the U.S. Microsoft Imagine Cup this spring and will go to Australia in July for the Imagine Cup World Finals, the premiere international student technology competition.
The EPICS team 33 Buckets is one of only five finalists selected from student teams throughout the world to compete in the finals of the Dell Social Innovation Challenge in June in Austin, Texas.
From more than 100 nominations for the Dell Social Innovation Education Awards, judges selected a first-place winner and three honorable mention winners.
“With the great success that professor Filley’s EPICS project teams have accomplished in our competition this year, he was an obvious choice for receiving our recognition,” said Mary Beth Bennett, Dell Challenge program coordinator at the University of Texas.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to partner with him in encouraging ASU students to pursue their passion for social change,” she said. “In the nominations made on behalf of professor Filley, students spoke very highly of his overall commitment to their personal and educational success. It was apparent that he is extremely valued and respected by the EPICS community he has created.”
Read more about EPICS at ASU.
