The mission of the ETHOS program is encapsulated in the ethos of ETHOS: ETHOS is founded on the belief that engineers are more apt and capable to serve our world more appropriately when they have experienced opportunities that increase their understanding of technology's global linkage with values, culture, society, politics, and economy.

ETHOS seeks to provide experiential learning through service-learning internships, student organization activities, collaborative research and hands-on classroom projects that support the development of appropriate technologies for the developing world, locally and globally. Such experiences expose students to alternative, non-traditional technologies that are based on fundamental science and engineering principles, but have tangible and immediate impacts on improving the lives of those who use them. ETHOS maintains as its educational objective to challenge students to think creatively and independently, to work as a team and communicate effectively, and address issues of appropriate technology, environmental ethics, social responsibility, and cultural sensitivity. Such exposure, both inside and outside the classroom, allows students to recognize the far-reaching effects, positive and negative, of engineering and technology and thus the responsibilities of being an engineer in our ever-increasing global society.