Humanitarian Engineering in Latin America (HELA) at LACCEI 2025
Welcome to the Humanitarian Engineering in Latin America (HELA) special track of the LACCEI 2025 conference. In line with the theme of “Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, and Sustainable Technologies in service of society”, this track aims to explore how engineering, artificial intelligence and sustainable technologies can be leveraged to address the needs of the most vulnerable communities in three broad categories: Education, Practice and Research.
Through keynote speakers, collaborative activities, panels, and a call for papers, we will showcase innovative initiatives and create a network of professionals and educators dedicated to promoting humanitarian engineering in the region. Join us in shaping a future where technology serves as a catalyst for social good.
Speakers
Proposed and selected speakers should be able to present guiding principles, practices and examples to align with the theme of the Conference and the needs and desires of the most vulnerable communities. Possible speakers include:
- Juan Lucena: presents guiding principles behind the development of HE Colombia, including IEEE Tech4Good in Colombia and Andean Countries
- Pali Singh: presents exemplar of HE-type energy projects in Ecuador and/or how to connect HELA to IEEE HTB initiatives
Call for Papers
We invite submissions of papers that highlight innovative initiatives related to Humanitarian Engineering (HE) in Latin America and Caribbean. They must be aligned with the three main categories of Engineering of the Multiconference and Full Paper Format (hybrid):
- ENGINEERING EDUCATION (EE)
- ENGINEERING RESEARCH (ER)
- ENGINEERING PRACTICE (EP)
We are particularly interested in showcasing examples such as:
- Courses, projects, and incubators (semilleros)
- Design competitions
- Learn-by-doing spaces (makerspaces, aulas STEAM, etc.)
Papers should meet the following criteria:
- Drivers: Describe the key factors that led to the creation of the HE-related initiative, going beyond the good intentions of faculty and students to solve a community problem. This could include fulfilling an institutional mission of social responsibility, responding to a specific government or corporate call to serve vulnerable communities, or addressing a community’s direct request for engineering assistance.
- Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Explain how collaborations between engineering and non-engineering disciplines (e.g., social sciences, life sciences, business, social work) contributed, or could have contributed, to the success of the initiative.
- Beneficiary Involvement: Illustrate how beneficiaries (such as communities, schools, or people with disabilities) were actively involved throughout the initiative. Ideally, they should not only be recipients of engineering solutions but also active participants in the process.
Important Dates
- March 3, 2025– Call for Paper (CfP) – Register here
- April 7, 2025 – Deadline for Full Papers (FP) of HELA 2025 (Eastern Daylight Time – EDT)
- April 28, 2025 – Notification of acceptance (FP)
- May 5, 2025 – Submit final version of the accepted paper (FP)
AGENDA OF HELA 2025
Thursday: July 17, 2025
- 8.00-9.30: Papers presentations of HELA 2025 (only in person)
- 10.00-11.00: Plenary of HELA 2025
- 11.00-12.00: Plenary of LACCEI 2025
- 12.00-13.00: Plenary of HELA 2025
- 13.00-14.00: Lunch
- 14.00-15.30: Panel of HELA 2025
- 15.30-16.00: Break
- 16.00-17.00: Colombia’s Humanitarian Engineering Ecosystem
- 17.00-18.00: to be defined
- 18.00-19.00: Conclusions & collaborative HELA network to impact inclusive vulnerable communities
Steering Committee
- Dr. Juan Lucena. Colorado School of Mines. USA
- Dr. Pali Singh. Villanova University. USA
How to send my paper?
- Login in ConfTool LACCEI 2025: https://www.conftool.pro/laccei2025/index.php?page=index
- If you do not have a ConfTool-LACCEI 2025 account, you must create one.
- Select the option: “Your Submission”
- Select the track “Humanitarian Engineering in Latin America” (See image below). Click here
