How I lost Faith in the Technovangelists: Dean Chahim at TEDxUofW

Dean Chahim is an environmental engineer, educator, and community organizer from Seattle. Growing out of a disenchantment with the way engineering is taught and practiced, he recently jointly designed and taught (with Daniel Ullom) a popular seminar for engineering students at the UW on "Engineering for Social Justice". He has also taught an innovative course and published articles in academic and popular media on international development and global justice issues.

As an engineer focusing on cleaning up after toxic spills, he has donned rubber boots to collect samples and help assess contaminated sites across the Puget Sound, from the Duwamish shoreline to Gas Works Park. He is also one of the volunteer organizers of the Seattle Solidarity Network, a grassroots worker-tenant organizing project that builds community power through struggles against unjust housing and working conditions.

Dean graduated from the University of Washington with a B.S.C.E. in Civil & Environmental Engineering and a B.A. with Honors in International Development. Following graduation, he traveled across ten countries in the global South with the support of a Bonderman Fellowship, learning with everyday people and activists struggling for social change. This fall, he will begin doctoral studies in Anthropology at Stanford University, where he intends to study the relationship between foreign-funded engineering projects, globalization, and rising economic inequality in his parents' home country of Afghanistan. More about Dean is available at his website.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)