Elaine Truong is an engineering student at UCLA with an impressive list of accomplishments to her name. She began her career as a social entrepreneur at age 14, running a human rights organization, then starting a jewelry company that employed women in Africa and Central America. Today she is focused on bringing power to Africa, developing ReVolt, a microbial fuel cell that uses dirt to produce electricity. Yes, it’s a dirt powered battery. The goal is to make it possible for people in developing nations to charge cell phones cheaply, as well as power lights. Because of the lack of electricity infrastructure in Kenya, many children need to use kerosene lamps to study for school, which produce soot and cause breathing problems. These lung problems are currently the #1 cause of death among young children in the region.

Elaine also sees great potential for mobile app development focused on African nations, with over 90% of Kenyans currently owning a mobile phone. In addition to her work with ReVolt and being a full time student, she also helped organize UCLA’s first hardware hackathon and is an active participant in international entrepreneurship summits.

I am impressed by her ability to manage her time and be involved in so many different projects at once. Her routine includes getting up at 6 am and making sure her calender is filled with activities for each hour, as well as trying to answer emails and do homework at the same time. She is a great example of someone with technical expertise who is also willing to go out and create the system needed to distribute an innovative idea.

She states that for her: “it’s really important to know what you value, which can set the agenda for you to focus on… Knowing what you value also makes it easier to take a step back and assess if there is a genuine, thought-out purpose behind what you do.”