My name is Alice Chu and I am a 4th year Computer Science major here at UCSD. I have always been interested in helping the community with my skills and have been part of UCSD’s Habitat for Humanity club for the past three years. I feel that this class is a great way to incorporate my skills as a software developer with the needs of people around the world.

I am most interested in how mobile technologies can change the lives of people in third world countries. I feel that mobile phones have the ability to improve the lives of people in parts of Africa, India, Southeast Asia, etc. in all aspects of life, including banking, m-commerce, climate checks, eliminating middle men in trade, mobilization of labor and so much more. There have been phones in development that get up to 400 hours of battery life in a single charge and sends text messages by using reflected light, all for only $30! I feel like the possibilities of this technology sector are endless.

I can contribute my knowledge of computer science and programming skills to evaluate how plausible certain technologies are, or just help make it happen.

Explains how mobile phones can be useful to third world countries:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Technology/Mobile-rings-changes-for-worlds-poor/2005/04/21/1114028473872.html

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/01/20/third_world_first/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Commerce