-
Fresh out of college,
-
I went to work for a consulting firm.
-
During orientation the leaders
dished out advice.
-
Amongst them was one pithy
council I will never forget.
-
He told us, "Be easy to manage."
-
Considering how naïve
I really was at the time,
-
I took his advice to heart,
-
I told myself,
-
"Yes, I will be the ultimate team player,
-
I will do everything I'm told.
-
I will be easy to manage."
-
It wasn't until I arrived
in graduate school
-
and witnessed firsthand the criminal
actions of scientists and engineers
-
in the water crisis in Flint, Michigan
-
that I realized how dangerous
and yet surprisingly common
-
this line of thinking really is.
-
Make no mistake,
-
the Flint water crisis
-
is one of the most egregious
environmental injustices of our time.
-
For over 18 months,
-
100,000 residents,
-
including thousands of young children,
-
were exposed to contaminated
drinking water with high levels of lead.
-
Lead is a potent neurotoxin
-
which causes cognitive
and developmental disabilities
-
and is especially harmful to growing
fetuses and young children.
-
We've known about its dangers
since the Roman Empire.
-
Amongst a whole host of health issues,
-
12 people died by contracting
Legionnaires' disease.
-
Flint's water infrastructure --
-
the complex network
of underground pipes --
-
has been severely damaged.
-
And while the water quality
is slowly improving
-
and the pipes are being replaced now,
-
more than two years later,
-
the water is still not safe to drink.
-
So, people are still in shock.
-
They ask themselves,
-
"How could this have happened?"
-
The short answer is the crisis began
when an emergency manager,
-
appointed by Michigan's governor,
-
decided to switch their water source
to a local river to save money.
-
But it continued for so long
-
because scientists and engineers
at government agencies
-
in the state of Michigan,
-
and in the federal government,
-
did not follow federal regulations
for treating the water right.
-
What was more,
-
they actively cheated on the law
and orchestrated coverups.
-
They ridiculed residents asking for help
-
while publicly insisting that the brown
smelly water coming out of the tap
-
that the brown smelly water
coming out of the tap was safe to drink.
-
The system at the local, state
and federal levels
-
completely failed to protect
our most vulnerable,
-
and an entire population
was left to fend for itself.
-
Now, amidst this justice,
-
Flint residents were rallying together.
-
Amongst them were some
amazing women of Flint,
-
mothers concerned about their kids,
-
who came together forming
many grassroots coalitions,
-
and these groups started protesting
and demanding change.
-
The group also reached out
to outside scientists for help,
-
and a few responded.
-
Amongst them was a guy
named Miguel Del Toral,
-
a water expert at the US EPA --
-
the Environmental Protection Agency --
-
who actually wrote the scientific memo,
-
and sent it to the state of Michigan
and the federal government
-
to bring their attention to this problem.
-
He was characterized a "rogue employee,"
-
and silenced.
-
In collaboration with Flint residents,
-
our research team here at Tech
of students and scientists
-
led by professor Marc Edwards,
-
conducted citywide testing
-
to prove that Flint's water
was indeed contaminated,
-
even toxic in some homes.
-
We substantiated what Flint
had been screaming for months,
-
and put it on the Internet
for the world to see.
-
Now, when I was getting involved,
-
when I said yes to this,
-
I had no idea what I was getting into,
-
but every second of this journey
has been totally worth it.
-
This was science
and service to the public.
-
This is what I came
to graduate school for,
-
and this is how I would
rather spend my life.
-
And so this coalition --
-
this unlikely coalition of citizens,
pastors, journalists and scientists
-
came together to uncover the truth
using science, advocacy and activism.
-
A local pediatrician figured out
-
that the instances of childhood
lead poisoning had indeed doubled
-
in Flint during the crisis.
-
And the state of Michigan was forced
to acknowledge the problem
-
and take steps to correct it.
-
This group,
-
and many others,
-
got Flint's kids protected.
-
A few months later,
-
President Obama came in
and declared a federal emergency,
-
and now Flint is getting more
than 600 million dollars
-
in healthcare, nutrition, education
-
and overhauling their
water infrastructure.
-
However, the arrogance
-
and the callous disregard
for public health
-
shown by scientists and engineers
at these government agencies
-
is beyond belief.
-
These unhealthy cultures
that are festering in these groups,
-
where the focus is on meeting
regulations and checking boxes
-
as opposed to protecting
public health is just appalling.
-
Just consider this email
that an EPA employee wrote
-
where she goes,
-
"I'm not so sure Flint is a community
we want to go out on a limb for."
-
The dehumanization of an entire
population could not be more obvious.
-
Now, contrast that to the first
canon of engineering,
-
which in my opinion should be
the first law of humanity.
-
"To hold paramount the health,
safety and welfare of the public,"
-
above all else.
-
This is the Hippocratic Oath we've
rarely acknowledged, let alone embraced.
-
And so when scientists and engineers,
-
very much like medical doctors,
-
screw up,
-
people can get hurt --
-
even die.
-
If our professionals and even
students fail to get that,
-
society pays a huge price.
-
Buried deep in history lies
a character I deeply admire --
-
an engineer named Peter Palchinsky.
-
He lived in the time of the Soviet Union.
-
And Palchinsky repeatedly got in trouble
for his radical honesty
-
and willingness to point out major
flaws in the Soviet's mindless pursuit
-
of rapid industrialization.
-
Everyone was expected to follow orders
coming from the top.
-
Anyone asking questions or offering
feedback was unwelcome.
-
The Soviets had created the largest
army of engineers the world had ever seen,
-
and yet most of them were mere cogs
in a gigantic machine heading for doom.
-
Palchinsky on the other hand,
-
implored engineers to look
at the economic, political
-
and social consequences of their actions.
-
In other words,
-
be more public-focused.
-
His fearless voice of reason
was seen as a threat
-
to the political establishment,
-
and Joseph Stalin
had him executed in 1929.
-
Palchinsky's view on technocrats
is very different
-
from one that is still very popular,
-
still very common.
-
That of a dispassionate researcher
working in his ivory tower lab,
-
or a nerdy engineer
working in his cubicle.
-
Brilliant, no doubt,
-
yet somehow cut off from the world,
-
shows little emotion --
-
kind of like Spock from "Star Trek,"
-
you know?
-
This guy?
-
(Laughter)
-
Let's [try] the Spock salute.
-
I don't think I'll succeed ...
-
see I [can] be Spock.
-
Thank goodness, I [can] be Spock.
-
(Laughter)
-
I was reminded of this distinction
because a recent article came out
-
in a very reputable scientific journal,
-
which kind of characterized our Flint work
-
as driven by "youthful idealism,"
-
and "Hollywood's dramatic sensibilities."
-
It asks scientists to protect their
research funding and institutions
-
at all costs,
-
no matter how just the cause.
-
And if you think you have to
get involved with something,
-
even if it's an emergency,
-
try finding an activist group or an NGO,
-
and obtain the full support
of the academic community --
-
whatever that means --
-
before you get involved.
-
Not one mention of our moral
and professional obligation
-
of preventing harm to the public,
-
or the fact that with all this expertise,
-
resources and for some even tenure,
-
to, you know, accomplish this task.
-
I'm not saying every
scientist should be an activist.
-
There are real and sometimes very painful
consequences of speaking up,
-
but to denounce this idea,
-
this possiblity so completely
-
so that you can protect research funding,
-
simply screams of self-serving cowardice,
-
and [these are] not the ideals that we
would want to pass to our students.
-
And so you may think
all this sounds great,
-
but you'll never completely change
organizational cultures,
-
or imbibe mindsets in students
and professionals
-
to look at their work as a public good --
-
science in service to the public.
-
Maybe so,
-
but could a big reason for that be
-
that we are not training
our students right?
-
Because if you look closely,
-
our education system today
is focused more on creating
-
what ex-Yale professor
Bill Deresiewiczs calls "excellent sheep;"
-
young people who are smart and ambitious,
-
and yet somehow risk-averse,
timid, directionless,
-
and sometimes, full of themselves.
-
Now, kids --
-
we fell in love with science
when we were kids,
-
and yet we somehow spend most of our time
during high school and college
-
just jumping through hoops,
-
and doing things so that we
can polish our resume
-
instead of sitting down,
-
and reflecting on what we want to do
-
and who we want to be.
-
And so ...
-
the markers of empathy
in our college graduates
-
have been dropping dramatically
in the past two decades,
-
while those of narcissism are on the rise.
-
There is also a growing culture
of disengagement
-
between engineering students
and the public.
-
We are trained to build bridges
and solve complex problems,
-
but not how to think or live
or be a citizen of this world.
-
My undergraduate years
were explicit job preparation,
-
and I cannot tell you how suffocating
and painful it was at times.
-
Some people think the solution
to great engineers,
-
to great scientists,
-
is more technical training.
-
Maybe so.
-
But where are the discussions
on ethical decision making,
-
or building character,
-
or discerning right from wrong?
-
Consider this project
that I deeply love and admire.
-
It's called The Heroic
Imagination Project,
-
a brainchild of Dr.Phil Zimbardo,
-
famous for The Stanford Prison Experiment.
-
This program seeks to train
school-going children around the world
-
to look at themselves
as heroes-in-waiting,
-
or heroes-in-training.
-
So, these young minds work over time
to develop skills and virtues
-
so that when the opportunity comes,
-
no matter what that opportunity [is,]
-
to stand up and do the right thing.
-
In other words,
-
anyone can be a hero.
-
Think about that idea for a second.
-
Why don't we teach science
and engineering like that --
-
where heroism and public service
are seen as key values?
-
Because indeed it's often heroism
-
that is not only the antidote
to public indifference,
-
but also to systemic evil
like we saw in Flint.
-
And so dream with me
-
what a 21st-century scientist
slash engineer could look like.
-
Individuals who are driven
to master the sciences
-
so that they can serve society,
-
and are also aware of the tremendous power
their knowledge and decisions have.
-
Folks who are developing
their moral courage at all times,
-
and who realize that conflict
and controversy
-
are not necessarily bad things
-
if our ultimate loyalty
is to the public and the planet.
-
These are the people who will
stand up like we did in Flint --
-
not to be saviors or heroes in the media,
-
but altruistic
-
and fundamentally good actors
that you and I can trust.
-
Imagine fostering such
a public-focused mindset
-
in classes, on service trips and through
activities during college,
-
or even high school,
-
so that these young minds
will hold onto those ideals
-
when they actually enter the real world,
-
whether that be consulting,
academia, policy making,
-
or even becoming
the president of a country.
-
Some of mankind's greatest
challenges lie ahead of us;
-
contaminated drinking water
is just one example.
-
We could definitely use more --
-
nay, we desperately need more
compassionate upstanders
-
and public-focused scientists
and engineers
-
who will strive to the do right thing,
-
and not be easy to manage.
-
Thank you.
-
(Applause)