Confiando en el caos: Adan Levy at TEDxUTN

Summary

The speaker shares a personal journey of self-discovery, from becoming a pre-school teacher to a mechanical engineer, and finally founding 'Engineering Without Borders' in Argentina. Despite societal expectations and personal challenges, they pursued a dual passion for education and engineering. The talk highlights the importance of embracing fear, maintaining diversity, and creating open solutions to serve the most vulnerable communities, showcasing the organization's impactful projects and the transformative power of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker opens up by confessing nervousness, emphasizing that entrepreneurs often proceed despite fear.
• 🧑‍🏫 The speaker's career journey started with a passion for teaching, particularly in pre-school education, focusing on creativity and play.
• ⚙️ The speaker also pursued mechanical engineering, finding a parallel between engineering and the playfulness of early education.
• 👨‍👩‍👧 The Argentine crisis in 2001 deeply impacted the speaker, leading to a personal promise to address social issues and help vulnerable communities.
• 🛠️ The speaker initially balanced working as an engineer with the goal of creating economic stability, intending to later focus on social issues.
• 🤝 After leaving a stable engineering career, the speaker founded 'Engineers Without Borders,' inspired by the desire to merge engineering with humanitarian work.
• 🌍 The organization shifted to 'Engineering Without Borders' to include people from diverse professions and genders, aiming to solve complex social problems with an interdisciplinary approach.
• 🧑‍🔧 Engineers Without Borders' first projects focused on water access, rural infrastructure, and collaborating with local communities for sustainable development.
• 📚 The speaker emphasizes the importance of learning from local communities and involving them actively in project development for long-term success.
• 💡 The speaker reflects on the journey of building the organization, emphasizing that challenges, diversity, and collaboration were key to its success.

Q & A

What is the speaker's main objective in delivering this talk?

The speaker aims to reflect on their personal journey, highlight the challenges of balancing different aspects of their identity, and discuss how this led to the creation of 'Engineering Without Borders.' They want to emphasize the importance of combining technical skills with social responsibility.

Why does the speaker confess to being nervous at the beginning of the talk?

The speaker admits to being nervous to highlight that entrepreneurs and change-makers often face fears but still move forward. This vulnerability helps humanize their journey and connects with the audience by showing that fear is part of the process.

What realization did the speaker have about themselves during their journey?

The speaker realized that in their continuous focus on doing and achieving, they had lost sight of themselves. This talk serves as a moment of self-reflection and a reunion with their personal values and identity.

What led the speaker to choose a career in pre-school education?

The speaker chose pre-school education because it offered the opportunity to be involved in a creative and formative stage of human development. They were attracted to the idea of learning and playing, elements that resonated deeply with them.

How does the speaker connect their engineering career with their interest in humanity?

The speaker sees engineering not just as a technical field but as an opportunity to solve real-world problems and help vulnerable communities. They describe it as a way to connect their technical skills with a deeper social mission, which led to the formation of 'Engineering Without Borders.'

What was the pivotal moment that sparked the speaker's social mission?

The pivotal moment occurred in 2001 during Argentina’s economic crisis when the speaker saw a family eating from the garbage. This deeply affected them and prompted a promise to themselves to do something to address such social issues, even if they didn’t know how at the time.

What strategy did the speaker initially develop to fulfill their social mission?

The speaker's initial strategy was to first become economically stable as an engineer, generate a surplus, and then use that surplus to work on social projects. However, they later realized this plan was too naive and required constant adaptation.

Why did the speaker quit their job, and what did they do afterward?

The speaker quit their job because they felt the need to explore how to merge the two dimensions of their life—engineering and their social mission. After quitting, they didn’t have a clear plan but took time to reflect and eventually co-founded 'Engineering Without Borders.'

How did 'Engineering Without Borders' evolve from its initial concept?

'Engineering Without Borders' began as a small group of like-minded individuals who wanted to apply engineering skills to help vulnerable communities. It evolved into an interdisciplinary organization that includes people from various fields, focusing on sustainable, community-driven development projects.

What is the significance of diversity within 'Engineering Without Borders'?

Diversity is seen as a crucial value for the organization. The speaker compares it to a kaleidoscope, where the beauty comes from the combination of different shapes, colors, and perspectives. Maintaining this diversity ensures that the organization remains dynamic and innovative in its approach to solving problems.