Leveraging Local Resources to Implement Community-Oriented, Sustainable Computer Education Projects in Lost Angeles

BOOTUP is an education and civic-engagement project that was founded in 2005 by members of the UCLA Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB-UCLA). The mission of BOOTUP is to design and implement a sustainable computer education project that provides value to both the local community as well as engineering students at UCLA. Since its inception, BOOTUP has provided over 50 donated/refurbished computers and related equipment to three Los Angeles area schools, as well as individuals and organizations who did not otherwise have consistent access to computers. This project has involved numerous community organizers at UCLA and in Los Angeles as well as UCLA students. The authors estimate that up to 100 high school students have been impacted by their project. Computer equipment was obtained through donations by a variety of companies and individuals and refurbished for reuse. Unusable equipment was deposited at electronic waste recycling sites including those at UCLA and Goodwill.