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The Paris Climate Change agreement calls for reforms in all sectors with goals set forth by participating countries to lower greenhouse gas emission in combating climate change. Careless human consumption and toxic manufacturing plants are threatening our efforts in sustainability, with fossil fuel from manufacturing plants causing water and air pollution that are very harmful to children. It is estimated that 20 million children in the world are growing up with a higher chance of getting lung diseases. It is also known that US and China are throwing away an average of 70% of its wastes to landfill, with no other Asian or Southeast Asian countries besides Japan and South Korea that had firmly implemented sustainability practice in place. Not to mention the concerns for poor working conditions, health and safety, and minimizing risks in global manufacturing. An examination into these areas are in needed in the efforts to fight climate change, in a time when innovation and consumer demand is rapidly accelerating.

The Paris Climate Change Agreement is a global cooperative to lower our earth’s temperature 2 degrees Celsius by 2025, and forming a global alliance in mitigating temperature from getting past 1.5 degrees Celsius. 169 nations pledged to take immediate action on this effort to lower greenhouse gas emission, and began implementing strategies in moving the climate agenda to a more sustainable future.
I am requesting a grant to fund research and provide sustainability training to workers abroad in the maufacturing sector. I will assess the sustainability competitiveness in operation management and supply chain in different countries. This research will involve plant visits to various manufacturing plants and manufacturers’ headquarters, in-person interviews, sustainable supply chain presentations to foreign and US companies, meeting with US embassies and environmental organizations abroad. My goal is to identify the environmental challenges faced by the manufacturing industry in Asia and Southeast Asia, and develop new methodologies in sustainability practices for that will minimize environmental impact. The focuses will be in the following areas: Deming's 14 points to total quality management, Closed Loop Supply Chain and Reverse Logistics. The theme will be: Changing Attitudes in the Workplace to Correct Behaviors, and Putting Action into Place for a More Sustainable Society.

This research includes visiting countries with the highest consumption in manufacturing such as China, with visits to countries that has pioneered sustainability such as Japan. I will also visit operations/companies that are driving sustainable innovation such as South Korea. My ambition is to visit various plants in South East Asia to help international companies implement sustainability practices, and potentially experiment any new findings.

The goal is to visit 10 manufacturing plants in 6 different countries, this grant requires involves two parts, I will be conducting research and provide sustainability TQM training to companies abroad in selected global manufacturing companies. I am aiming specific industries such as Automotive, Consumer Electronics, Personal Care, Toys and Fashion. Aside from site visits, I will be taking training courses, meeting with Foreign NGO's, US Embassies for preparation. Here are the countries that are tentatively scheduled for visits:

China
Japan
South Korea
India
Vietnam
Bangladesh
Philippines
Singapore
Hong Kong
Ghana ** If additional funding permits (extending research to electionic wastes landfills)

In addition, I will visit two international business and logistic hubs, Singapore and Hong Kong. Singapore and Hong Kong had consistently been ranked with the highest degree of economic freedom in the world. My purpose here is to access its trade relations against their sustainability standards, and correlate new findings on sustainable trade practices in comparison to other Asian and Southeast Countries.

There will also be an in-depth look into global waste management. Currently there are only 13% of wastes used for energy, with the rest left at landfills emitting methane into the air. This research will tap into recycling and upcycling measures in developing countries, to identify problems and barriers in this area. These are all contributing factors that are adding more negative impact to our planet, that are toxic and dangerous. For that reason, I will be visiting landfills and incinerators across Asia as well.

This research grant will allow for opportunities to bridge international trade relations with Asia. In recent years, businesses are incorporating sustainability initiatives in their foreign operations and are demanding ethical sourcing and greener the supply chain. This success of this research will derive to new findings to barriers that are keeping Asia and Southeast Asia from becoming a more sustainable manufacturing economy.

The targeted travel date will begin in January of 2018 and will end in July of 2018.