Please join the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) this Friday for our Winter 2010 Usability Issues in HCDE Seminar Series. The presentation format is a 30-minute talk followed by a Q&A session. Members of the UW community and the public are welcome.
The week's featured speaker is: Who: Steven E. Vick, Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers Topic: Global Traceability: Environmental and Technological Challenges in the Developing World When: 12:30-1:20 pm, Friday, January 29, 2010 Where: Loew Hall, room 216 Abstract: For the past 13 years, Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers has advocated for total traceability and transparency within the coffee supply chain. Since 2003, we have utilized a proprietary, internal tracking system to manage the supply for the 320 containers (13 million pounds) of green coffee we import annually into the United States, Europe, and South Africa. We represent one out of every eight pounds of certified organic green coffee imported into the United States. Because the system has been used strictly internally for the past six years, the available information has been limited to what we could enter through our interactions with producer groups and roaster customers. As food security has become more of a global concern, we have decided to take this system to the next level, opening it up to our entire supply chain - from the coffee grower, to the roaster, to the consumer. My work in East Africa over the past year presented countless opportunities to colle! ?ct data and understand the challenges we have to consider as we build-out the current piece of the traceability system: an iPhone app that allows coffee washing station managers enter farmer cherry delivery information and track separated daily lots. Bio: For most of 2009 Stephen has been living on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in northwest corner of Tanzania, working with coffee farmers there, as well as in Burundi and Rwanda for Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers. Prior to his work, Stephen was the Director of Training and Education for Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon. Working for Stumptown allowed Stephen the opportunity to expand his palette and judge at international coffee competitions around the world including the Cup of Excellence and the World Barista Championship. Further, by visiting places where coffee is grown, it gave Stephen a greater understanding of the challenges facing coffee producers with regards to quality. ?This understanding has shifted the focus of his work and passion to the producer side of the coffee supply chain, taking a job with Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers as the head of quality control projects. Stephen earned his Bachelor of Science from the UW's Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering in 2001 and worked on HCDE projects at Zoka Coffee Roaster, a local cafe with an international reputation. During his time at the UW and in Seattle, Stephen rapidly developed an appreciation for coffee and the complex process it undergoes before reaching the consumer's cup. Stephen was born and raised in the great state of Oregon. HCDE's Winter 2010 Usability Speakers Series is scheduled for Fridays, 12:20 - 1:20 pm in room 216 of Loew Hall. View the full Winter 2010 Usability Speakers Series schedule is online at: http://www.hcde.washington.edu/nav-courses/521/win10 . Registration for UW students is available by entry code; contact the HCDE adviser by emailing Gian Bruno at gbruno at uw.edu. Thank you. Kate Long Publication Coordinator Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) Box 352315 |423 Sieg Hall University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 Phone: 206.543.7108 | Fax: 206.543.8858 katelong at u.washington.edu
