If you ask Dr. Elizabeth Hausler, she'll tell you that "It's not the earthquake that kills people, it's the building collapsing." While half way through her PhD in Civil Engineering at UC Berkley, a massive earthquake hit Gujarat, India and killed more than 20,000 and injured 167,000. As an earthquake engineer, she immediately recognized that this was a man-made problem and therefore should have a solution.

In this interview with host Sheela Sethuraman, Dr. Hausler describes how 90% of all deaths and injuries from earthquakes occur in developing countries. Through a variety of disadvantages, a majority of the houses built in these countries are not prepared to withstand the devastating effect of an earthquake. Through Build Change, Dr. Hausler is developing affordable, simple, and culturally appropriate construction solutions to help prevent further injury and loss of life.

Winner of the 2008 Katherine M. Swanson Equality Award from The Tech Museum of Innovation in Silicon Valley, Build Change designs and trains builders and homeowners to build earthquake-resistant houses using locally available skills and materials. The designs are sustainable, easy to build, and ensure that each homeowner has access to affordable technology to build a house that will not collapse, injure or kill their families in an earthquake, regardless of their income level.