Jessica MacNeil

Engineering worthy causes
June 28, 2007

The opportunity to do work that truly makes a difference in other people’s lives is something that is rare in most professions, but that’s not always the case for engineers. The nonprofit organization Engineers Without Borders is a group based in the US that works in developing communities around the world to engineer long-term solutions to problems inhibiting the people’s quality of life. "What we’re able to do here is give students experience in doing engineering and be able to help people desperately in need at the same time," said Lucas Johnson, VP of Chapter Administration for the Northeastern University chapter.

The program is committed to training engineers and engineering students worldwide, while providing much-needed help in underprivileged communities. Northeastern University’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders has been working in the Yoro district of Honduras in the communities of El Tecuan, Los Planes and El Rosario, for over a year.

Students and professional mentors travel to the sites to assess the problems, then return to the US to design solutions, prepare for the implementation of their designs and create educational materials for the people in the area. Finally the group travels back to the site to apply their solutions.

Last year in El Tecuan the group implemented their design to improve water pressure and reliability, however, the distribution system there is still in need of repair.

In Los Planes, there is no working water system, so the people must retrieve water from streams contaminated with E-Coli. The lack of a water system makes it difficult to grow or raise animals. These issues cause health problems, resulting in a life expectancy in the 40s. This April, students traveled to Los Planes to complete phase one of their design, which was to bring water from the streams to a central location in the village. They helped local workers prepare to dig and excavate the pipeline, build tank structures to break up the pressure and keep the pipe from bursting, and build suspension bridges to suspend the pipe over waterways. While there, the group also collected data for phase two of the project, which is to distribute the water from the central location to every home in the village. The group hopes to return to Los Planes in December to complete phase two of the design.

EWB funds their trips with the help of their sponsors: Gale, Sea Consultants, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Metcalf & Eddy, Rizzo Associates, Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section, Vellano, National Pipe & Plastics, Smurfit-Stone Container, Construction and Inspection Services, Turner, Weston & Sampson, LaRoche Engineering Services , GZA GeoEnviromental, Tighe & Bond, Spears Manufacturing, and Civilized Solutions, and through donations, which can be made on the group’s website (See Adopt a Pipe). The site also provides pictures and details about current and past projects.

"The cost of our last trip totaled around $20,000, so the fundraising never really stops," said Johnson.
Northeastern’s EWB group is currently run by a small group of engineering students, but students from any major are encouraged to get involved by attending meetings and getting more information from the website. "Everything that goes into it is done by about 25 people, so we really get our hands dirty,” said Johnson. 

To follow-up on this topic I will be profiling Lucas Johnson and Jen Chin, who serve as officers in Northeastern’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders and work as engineering co-ops.

Posted by Jessica MacNeil on June 28, 2007 | Comments (0)