They must involve partnerships with external organizations most familiar with the need. They must involve the design of projects, systems, and processes that benefit people, with particular emphasis on the under-served in society. The current program has grown out of nearly 10 years of informal encouragement of similar appropriate technology projects. Current projects include designing an improved hockey sled for the U.S. paralympic hockey team and developing a wrist exerciser that may reduce repetitive strain injuries for people in wheelchairs. Inspiration and ideas for justice-related projects come from many sources.
Some ideas come directly from the students, while faculty advisors suggest other ideas.
Friends and alumni of Santa Clara are another fruitful source of project ideas. For example, the late Don Ruder, a member of the Engineering School Advisory Board, proposed several of the projects related to third world infrastructure issues. Peter Axelson, founder of Beneficial Designs Incorporated and himself a paraplegic, has suggested and helped to fund several of the more recent projects related to disabled individuals. One such project was a device to evaluate trails for handicapped accessibility, with a design goal of cutting the time it took to survey a trail by a factor of 10. The team of Ben Blaine, Scott Hempey, Christopher Hintz, and Karie Rewak designed their Camptrail Cart during 1997 98.