 | |
| Abbreviation | I-TEC |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1996 |
| Type | 501(c)(3) not-for-profit |
| Location | |
Founder | Steve Saint |
| Website | https://www.itecusa.org |
Indigenous People's Technology and Education Center (I-TEC) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Christian missionary organization located in Dunnellon, Florida. Founded by Steve Saint, the stated purpose of I-TEC is to empower indigenous churches to overcome the technological and educational hurdles that stand in the way of their independence." [1]
I-TEC was founded by Steve Saint, son of missionary Nate Saint, as a result of his experiences living among the Huaorani in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador, near Shell Mera. [2] In 1996, 18 months after moving to the tribal village at the request of the Huaorani elders, including Mincaye, to guide their interactions with the outside world, Saint moved back to the United States, so as to prevent the tribe from becoming detrimentally dependent on him. [3] Upon his return to the United States, he founded I-TEC with the ambition to develop solutions to the economic and cultural crises that the Huaorani and many other tribal cultures face, using technology that indigenous people can operate and maintain with minimal outside support. [4]
I-TEC developed and currently uses numerous training programs and products to train and equip indigenous Christ-followers. The model of training instead of 'doing' in missions lessens the dependency on outsiders and equips the locals to meet needs and share the gospel. [5]
The aviation program was one of the first developed at I-TEC with the goal of reaching people beyond roads. Currently, the program focuses on training missionary pilots (I-FLY) [6] and developing UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to fly without a pilot to hard to reach areas. [7] In December 2015, the I-TEC UAV team completed successful testing of the UAV in Ecuador. [8]
I-TEC's health programs train in basic dentistry (I-DENT), basic medical care (I-MED), and vision enhancement (I-SEE). [9] The I-DENT program uses the Portable Dental Chair, developed by I-TEC in 2002 to make dental work in frontier areas easier for patients and dentists. [10]
The I-FIX program was launched in Ecuador and has since been used around the world to train local Christ-followers to troubleshoot and repair motorcycles, chainsaws, outboard motors, and other small engine tools. [10]
The I-FILM training program was developed to teach basic documentary story-telling to indigenous Christ-followers in 2014. [11] The training centers around iPads, equipping students with a device to shoot video, edit and distribute on one device. [11]
LIFE Study was released in 2015 as a discipleship program for the indigenous Christ-followers in the United States.
Developed by I-TEC, the Maverick is designed to be an easy-to-use ground and aerial vehicle. According to Popular Mechanics, the Maverick "looks like a dune buggy, but one with a propeller in back like an Everglades airboat and, billowing above, a rainbow colored flex wing … held aloft on a mast." [12] Equipped with the largest powered parachute available, the Maverick was first accepted by the Federal Aviation Administration as an experimental aircraft on April 14, 2008. [13]
Capable of interstate speeds on pavement, the Maverick's dune buggy-like frame of chromoly tubing gives it the ability to be used off-road. Additionally, the vehicle can deploy a parafoil and fly as a powered parachute. It weighs about 1100 pounds and has a useful carrying capacity equivalent to a Cessna 172 (fuel and 550 pounds cargo). With a 22-foot mast, the Maverick can take off and land in weather conditions that other powered parachutes would not be able to safely handle. Steve Saint has said he envisions the Maverick being useful to the Huaorani and other Indian groups, farmers and ranchers, pipeline inspection crews, and anyone else needing to traverse rough, roadless ground. [12] Popular Mechanics gave it their Breakthrough Award in 2009. [14]
The IAI RQ-5 Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was originally intended to serve as the United States Army's Short Range UAV system for division and corps commanders. It took off and landed on runways. It used a gimbaled EO/IR sensor to relay its video in real time via a second airborne Hunter over a C-band line-of-sight data link. The RQ-5 is based on the Hunter UAV that was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries.
A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.
Elisabeth Elliot was a Christian missionary, author, and speaker. Her first husband, Jim Elliot, was killed in 1956 while attempting to make missionary contact with the Auca people of eastern Ecuador. She later spent two years as a missionary to the tribe members who killed her husband. Returning to the United States after many years in South America, she wrote over twenty books and became widely known as an author and speaker. Elliot toured the country well into her seventies, sharing her knowledge and experience.
A powered parachute, often abbreviated PPC, and also called a motorized parachute or paraplane, is a type of aircraft that consists of a parafoil with a motor and wheels.
The Waorani, Waodani, or Huaorani, also known as the Waos, are an Indigenous people from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate name Auca is a pejorative exonym used by the neighboring Quechua natives, and commonly adopted by Spanish-speakers as well. Auca means 'savage'.
Philip James Elliot was an American Christian missionary and one of five people killed during Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador.
Nathanael Saint was an evangelical Christian missionary pilot who, along with four others, was killed in Ecuador while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people through efforts known as Operation Auca.
AeroVironment, Inc. is an American defense contractor headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, that designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Paul B. MacCready Jr., a designer of human-powered aircraft, founded the company in 1971. The company is best known for its lightweight human-powered and solar-powered vehicles. The company is the US military's top supplier of small drones —notably the Raven, Switchblade, Wasp and Puma models.
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute, established in 1989, is the aeronautics and space agency of South Korea. Its main laboratories are located in Daejeon, in the Daedeok Science Town. KARI's vision is to continue building upon indigenous launch capabilities, strengthen national safety and public service, industrialize satellite information and applications technology, explore the Moon, and develop environmentally-friendly and highly-efficient cutting-edge aircraft and core aerospace technology. Current projects include the KSLV-2 launcher. Past projects include the 1999 Arirang-1 satellite. The agency was founded in 1989. Prior to South Korea's entry into the Institute for Advanced Engineering (IAE) in 1992, it focused primarily on aerospace technology. As of May 2024, KARI is an affiliated research institute of the Korea AeroSpace Administration.
William Cameron Townsend was an American Christian missionary-linguist and the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
A miniature UAV, small UAV (SUAV), or drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle small enough to be man-portable. Smallest UAVs are called micro air vehicle.
Rachel Saint was an American evangelical Christian missionary who worked in Ecuador, with her language helper Dayuma translating the Gospel of Mark and the book of Acts into the Wao tededo language of the Huaorani people.
The Boeing A160 Hummingbird is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) helicopter. Its design incorporates many new technologies never before used in helicopters, allowing for greater endurance and altitude than any helicopter currently in operation.
Roger Youderian was an American Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people through efforts known as Operation Auca.
Stephen Farris Saint is an Ecuadorian-born business entrepreneur, pilot, and author. He is known for being the son of Nate Saint, a famous missionary pilot, as well as for his own work among indigenous tribes.
The DRDO Nishant - is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by India's Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a branch of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Armed Forces. The Nishant UAV is primarily tasked with intelligence gathering over enemy territory and also for reconnaissance, training, surveillance, target designation, artillery fire correction, damage assessment, ELINT and SIGINT. The UAV has an endurance of four hours and thirty minutes. Nishant has completed development phase and user trials.
The I.G. Brown Training and Education Center is a detachment of the Air National Guard Readiness Center and is located at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base near Knoxville, Tennessee. The TEC conducts an average of 16 Enlisted Professional Military Education courses and 40 Professional Continuing Education sessions throughout the year. Typically, the TEC accommodates 11,000 service members on campus annually from the Total Force, United States Coast Guard, and partner nation armed forces. TEC also manages the ANG's Warrior Network; a $7 m satellite broadcast enterprise with more than 186 downlink sites, providing training, education and command information nationwide. In addition, the studio and multimedia facilities support ANG video productions, senior leader conferences and general-to-career field-specific training.
The ITEC Maverick is a powered parachute aircraft with a roadable fuselage.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mongolia refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Mongolia. The first missionaries arrived in 1992 under request of the Mongolian government in effort to improve higher education in the country following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The first small branch was established in 1993. Since then, the LDS Church in Mongolia has grown to more than 12,000 members in 24 congregations. In 2022, Mongolia had the second most LDS Church members per capita in Asia behind the Philippines. In 2023 it was announced that the first temple will be constructed in Ulaanbaatar.
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