SDEV 201 Week 3

describe the five major stakeholders for your project and their motivations. describe three ways in which you will validate your project and enhance your credibility over the course of the semester

Over the course of the semester, I will be working on the PlastiKan project. Our goal is to improve the economic standing of several women in a women’s co-op. We plan on doing this by establishing a plastics recycling network so that the reused plastic can be shaped into new goods with market value.  This project is going to be tough but it can be broken down into a few steps.  First, we must complete some serious research into the local market and the logistics behind the connections between the women’s co-op, possible recycling centers, and landfills. The next step would be the creation and application of the appropriate machines for recycling plastics. Our team has begun the research into the steps of plastics recycling processes.  The majority of waste plastics we would be repurposing would be polyethylene terephthalate which is the plastic composition most commonly used in drink bottles and jars.  To repurpose this plastic, it takes three steps. First it goes into a shredder, then it gets melted down in an extruder, and eventually the melted plastic goes into a mold for its next product. So our team is responsible for the creation of these machines in an affordable and reasonable way. Once these systems are in place, the final thing our team would have to do is provide training for community members in the co-op for the skills required to keep this recycling system in place.

So, the plan is in place and the only way to execute on it is to have the right sponsors and backing from reliable sources. Our team is getting help for this project from multiple sources. The first one is Lehigh University. Lehigh has allowed all of our group members to have the right resources and they have enabled all of us to have the “go getter” mindset which is necessary for a project of this scale. None of this would be possible without the financial support that Lehigh provides us. This project is a worthwhile investment for Lehigh because on completion, Lehigh’s credibility will improve while also improving the capability of global impact for its students. Another major stakeholder for this project is the University of the Philippines. They will also have several students working on this project which will be very helpful for logistics and planning when our students arrive. This project is very important for their university as they are tackling real world problems that exist in their own backyard. There are many more resources in the Philippines that we will be utilizing throughout the course of the project. The women’s co-op is a big one. They are backed by the Catholic Church so it is easy to see why they would be interested in service projects to help their own community and its members. The Catholic Church will also be a big stakeholder through the Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines as their members serve to engage the members of their community and uphold the principles of the Church. One last resource that will also play a role throughout the project is Children’s International. This is a global nonprofit humanitarian organization that focuses their energy on improving the lives of children by trying to end poverty. This organization must be interested in our project because we are trying to improve the economic stability of many women who are all apart of some family. All of these entities will be extremely useful over the course of this project in their own important ways.

How will I validate this project? Well, I think the easiest (and hardest) way is to simply do the work. The only way to make this project be successful is to put in the effort and grind out the work. It’s a simple recipe for a rewarding result. The next important thing that will have to take place is being able to overcome obstacles. I don’t know what it’ll be but something will come up over the course of the semester that will seem insurmountable and being able to overcome this will demonstrate some serious validity for this project. Unfortunately, I will not be traveling to Manila, but I think being timely and present when it’s important will really add value to this project and any project for that matter. If all three of these get down it’s pretty easy to see that my credibility and the credibility of the whole team will be very apparent.