The Brigham Young University Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology will host a lecture and book signing by author and humanitarian Paul Polak Thursday, Feb. 5, at 11 a.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center.
His book, “Out of Poverty,” is available at the BYU Bookstore, where Polak will sign books from 12:15 to 1 p.m., followed by a question-and-answer session from 2 to 3 p.m. in 254 Clyde Building.
Polak is the founder of International Development Enterprises, which has used innovative solutions to help increase poor farmers’ net incomes by $288 million annually. In 2007, his group received a $13.4 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help more people in developing countries escape poverty.
He heads “D-Rev: Design for the Other 90%,” with the intent of igniting a design revolution. About 90 percent of the world’s designers focus on solutions for the richest 10 percent of the world’s customers rather than the other 90 percent who need it most. D-Rev helps multinational corporations profitably develop affordable products to help the world’s poor.
For the past 25 years, Polak has worked with thousands of farmers in countries around the world — including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Zimbabwe — to help design and produce low-cost, income-generating products that have already moved 17 million people out of poverty. Before establishing his organization, Paul practiced psychiatry for 23 years in Colorado.
For more information, contact Krista Tripodi at (801) 422-3948.
Writer: Angela Fischer
