About Us
The Tagore - Sengupta Foundation began in December of 2008 when Dr. Arup Sengupta realized a non - profit could maximize the reach of science and technology developed under his guidance at Lehigh University. The team Sengupta assembled shares a common trait: a connection to Lehigh University. Today eight members comprise the Board of Directors, each bringing a unique experience and expertise to the T-S Foundation.
The T-S Foundation focuses on water, sanitation, and education issues around the world. Access to clean water, proper sanitation, and excellent education do not reach hundreds of millions of people each year. The T-S Foundation works on these issues by using a human rights lens and follows the philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore, bolstering sustainable solutions derived and controlled by communities.
The T-S Foundation helps improve the basic quality of life around the world with the hope of generating new knowledge and new wealth. The arsenic removal system designed by Sengupta’s team at Lehigh University for rural communities in India is now being used in arsenic affected areas in the United States. This flow of knowledge goes in the opposite direction than typical engineering innovations; most science and technology are developed in the West and transferred to the “rest” without contextualizing the borrowed project. Sengupta’s system moved in the other direction. Moreover, the engineering feat to solve a health problem (high levels of arsenic) generated social, cultural, and economic wealth by providing the platform for community organization (e.g., the formation of water councils to collect a small fee for the clean water) and entrepreneurship (e.g., water councils using its profit to micro finance other community projects, and the creation of a water-bicycle to bring water from the central filtration system to homes etc.).
The T-S Foundation creates a platform to stimulate an intercultural dialogue around the world where human dignity and individuality are revered. The T-S Foundation sees water, sanitation, and education as moral, human right issues, and hopes to encourage other foundations and individuals to do the same.
The T-S Foundation instills the power of education in communities to attain self-sustenance among all people. Education is central in development; yet education must be specific to the community it serves. The T-S Foundation shares in the belief of Education for All, but more so in contextualization as paramount for the success of educational practices worldwide. Through education, communities around the world can begin to re-imagine their world, feel the power of empathy and care, and become active and empowered citizens.
The T-S Foundation serves as a springboard for the implementation of external projects that embody the spirit of the Rabindranath Tagore. Therefore, the T-S Foundation not only runs its own projects but also supports to other non-profits who exemplify Tagore’s message of peace.
We recognize that the T-S Foundation is an organization of modest means while its goals are exceedingly ambitious. Nevertheless, in agreement with the spirit of Tagore’s life-long endeavors, we reiterate his words, “It is always better to light just one candle at a time than cursing the overwhelming darkness.”
The T-S Foundation focuses on water, sanitation, and education issues around the world. Access to clean water, proper sanitation, and excellent education do not reach hundreds of millions of people each year. The T-S Foundation works on these issues by using a human rights lens and follows the philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore, bolstering sustainable solutions derived and controlled by communities.
The T-S Foundation helps improve the basic quality of life around the world with the hope of generating new knowledge and new wealth. The arsenic removal system designed by Sengupta’s team at Lehigh University for rural communities in India is now being used in arsenic affected areas in the United States. This flow of knowledge goes in the opposite direction than typical engineering innovations; most science and technology are developed in the West and transferred to the “rest” without contextualizing the borrowed project. Sengupta’s system moved in the other direction. Moreover, the engineering feat to solve a health problem (high levels of arsenic) generated social, cultural, and economic wealth by providing the platform for community organization (e.g., the formation of water councils to collect a small fee for the clean water) and entrepreneurship (e.g., water councils using its profit to micro finance other community projects, and the creation of a water-bicycle to bring water from the central filtration system to homes etc.).
The T-S Foundation creates a platform to stimulate an intercultural dialogue around the world where human dignity and individuality are revered. The T-S Foundation sees water, sanitation, and education as moral, human right issues, and hopes to encourage other foundations and individuals to do the same.
The T-S Foundation instills the power of education in communities to attain self-sustenance among all people. Education is central in development; yet education must be specific to the community it serves. The T-S Foundation shares in the belief of Education for All, but more so in contextualization as paramount for the success of educational practices worldwide. Through education, communities around the world can begin to re-imagine their world, feel the power of empathy and care, and become active and empowered citizens.
The T-S Foundation serves as a springboard for the implementation of external projects that embody the spirit of the Rabindranath Tagore. Therefore, the T-S Foundation not only runs its own projects but also supports to other non-profits who exemplify Tagore’s message of peace.
We recognize that the T-S Foundation is an organization of modest means while its goals are exceedingly ambitious. Nevertheless, in agreement with the spirit of Tagore’s life-long endeavors, we reiterate his words, “It is always better to light just one candle at a time than cursing the overwhelming darkness.”
Dr. Arup SenGupta is a professor in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Chemical Engineering at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. He earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Houston in 1984. His research areas include environmental separation, control and monitoring; characterization and tailoring of polymeric and hybrid materials for environmental control; and environmental kinetics. In 2007, SenGupta’s team won the Grainger Silver Prize Award from the National Academy of Engineering for his arsenic removal system. The same project also won the 2005 Mondialogo Sustainable Engineering Award from Daimler-Chrysler and UNESCO.
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William C. Brehm graduated from Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations (2008) and a Master’s of Education in Comparative and International Education (2010). He currently works as the associate editor for European Education: Issues and Studies. In the past he has taught a summer English course in Taipei, Taiwan, served as a Representative for Youth Challenge (Singapore) at the United Nations, and began CultureofConversation.com, a website fostering transcultural student dialog. Brehm currently works as the Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation Officer in Siem Reap, Cambodia for This Life Cambodia. Brehm brings knowledge of globalization and educational change to the T-S Foundation in hopes of contextualizing projects.
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Mike German was a 2013 Fulbright-Nehru Fellow to India where his research was titled "Empowering Women to Transform a Water Crisis into Water Business in the Indian Sub-Continent. Currently pursuing his PhD in Environmental Engineering under Professor SenGupta, he has helped develop the resin technology within the SenGupta Research Lab.
Mike's findings in discovering social business models to tackle the arsenic and fluoride water crisis has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Mike holds a Masters in Environmental Engineering from Lehigh University and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from University of Maryland - Baltimore County. |
Neal L. SenGupta graduated with distinction from Duke University with a BS in Economics and a BA in Political Science. He is currently a Vice President at private equity firm TPG Capital, where he focuses on investment opportunities in the renewable energy, oil & gas, power generation, and chemicals industries. He previously worked at investment bank Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he focused on advising companies and investors in the automotive and industrial sectors. His other relevant experience includes management consulting at McKinsey & Company. His personal involvements include military veteran mentoring, juvenile diabetes prevention, and the T-S Foundation’s social impact and rural revitalization projects.
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Kelsey Hunter graduated from Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Economics (2008) and a Master’s degree in Economics (2009). While at Lehigh, Kelsey was involved with Engineers Without Borders (EWB) as part of a multidisciplinary team working to improve EWB’s understanding of, and relationship with the community of Pueblo Nuevo, Honduras. She traveled with EWB to Honduras twice as the development team leader. As an undergraduate, Hunter served as the President and Treasurer of the World Affairs. She was also the recipient of the Campbell Prize for Undergraduate Social Science Research for her thesis, “Poverty as an Underlying Cause of Civil War.” Currently, she works as an economist for Industry Canada. Hunter brings a strong background in international economic development theory to the T-S Foundation.
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Susmita SenGupta is a Pharmacist currently working for a chain retail drug store. She has two sons. She earned her Masters degree in Pharmacology from University of Houston. She is very active in her community, organizing various cultural events, and always kind and fun loving. She likes reading, listening to music, and singing and dancing.
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Dr. Sudipta Sarkar is currently a post-doctoral research associate in Lehigh University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. Since 2001, he has been actively involved with research, development, and application of a sustainable technology for arsenic removal from contaminated drinking water in the Indian Subcontinent where over 100 million people are at risk of arsenic-related health illnesses. During his graduate studies, he has served as a project manager for Water For People (WFP) funded arsenic removal project, which is now providing arsenic-safe drinking water to nearly 200,000 people in villages of West Bengal, India. The project, a collaborative effort of Lehigh University (USA) and Bengal Engineering and Science University (India), has acclaimed several honors including those from American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) OPAL Award of Merit in 2008, National Science Foundation’s Grainger Challenge Silver Prize in 2007, among others. His vast experience of community related work includes motivating people, mobilizing community’s participation in successful implementation of new technology, and micro-financing of sustainable small community projects.
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John Greenleaf received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering (2007) from Lehigh University. He is currently a visiting assistant professor at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. Areas of interest and research include environmental separations, environmental chemistry, and sustainable processes. Courses taught include Introduction to Environmental Engineering, Environmental Water Chemistry, Environmental Case Studies, Sustainability of Built Systems, and Water Resources. Additional activities include volunteer work and advising duties for the groups “Water for People”, “Society of Environmental Engineers and Scientists” (SEES), “Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection” (LEAP), and “Engineers Without Borders.” Consulting activities include work with Mack Trucks, Inc. in their technology commercialization project titled: “Production of Liquid Methane Truck Fuel from Landfill Gas.” His research and engineering work has earned several national and international awards including: Honoree, National Academy of Engineering (NAE) co-project engineer in creating an arsenic removal unit that was awarded a silver medal in the Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability (National NAE Awards Ceremony, Washington, D.C., 2007) and Finalist, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (OCEA) award, project engineer for “The Arsenic Crisis in the Indian Subcontinent: Sustainable Engineering Solution, West Bengal, India, (National ASCE OPAL Gala Awards Ceremony, Washington, D.C., 2008).
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Bob Creighton joins the TS Foundation from Alcatel-Lucent, where he works in a business operations function supporting the procurement organization. Bob holds a Master’s of Science in Environmental Engineering and Master’s of Business Administration from Lehigh University. His research in Environmental Engineering involved the use of Ion Exchangers to stabilize stresses introduced into biological environments. Similar Ion Exchangers are used in the process that removes Arsenic from Ground Water. His brings a variety of skill sets to the team, but most of all his ability to work with interdisciplinary experts and developing creative solutions will provide the most value.
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