Newswise — This summer, a group of engineering students from the University of Colorado-Boulder will set out to Rwanda to design and build a water system in a village wracked by drought and famine.
The activity in central Africa is the most recent in a string of humanitarian and outreach projects conducted under the auspices of Engineers Without Borders-USA. Founded in 2000, Engineers Without Borders partners with developing countries to train a new generation of engineers who implement sustainable engineering solutions in those regions.
ASME student member Keir Hart, a senior at the University of Colorado and part of the 9-person engineering team in Rwanda, says his experience added a dimension to his education beyond the daily regimen of classroom and laboratory exercises and provided fresh insights about his engineering career. "The experience has given me a renewed motivation and a greater respect for engineering," said Hart.
The work of Engineers Without Borders is highlighted in the April 2004 issue of Mechanical Engineering, a publication of ASME.
The article, "Engineering With a Conscience," includes cases of other outreach efforts coordinated by Engineers Without Borders, including projects in Thailand and Mali, West Africa.
In a project conducted in May 2003, a team of six engineering students from the Colorado School of Mines at Golden, worked alongside the villagers of San Pablo, Belize, to site a pair of solar panels and install the electrical wiring in a school, church, and other community buildings.
ASME, which provided partial funding for the Belize project, has teamed up with Engineers Without Bordersä to promote the participation of ASME members and student members in overseas projects slated for Fall 2004 and throughout 2005.
One specific area of interest for ASME is to train students to function effectively in teams with professional engineers and local officials and residents.
Next year, ASME and Engineers Without Boarders will lead a coalition of technical societies and other organizations for Engineers Week 2005, which will be held Feb. 20-26. ASME will facilitate communications with other engineering groups to organize project teams to support Engineers Without Boarders' endeavors around the world.
For information about ASME's forthcoming role in Engineers Without Borders, visit the Website, http://www.asme.org/students/ewb.html
Engineers Without Borders-USA currently maintains about 75 student chapters based at universities throughout the United States, as well as several professional chapters.
"We're teaching the new generation to be socially responsible in their designs, outlook, and work," says Dick Herring, executive director, Engineers Without Borders-USA, in the article in Mechanical Engineering.
Mechanical Engineering is one of numerous technical publications of ASME. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, today's ASME is a 120,000-member professional organization focused on technical, educational and research issues of the engineering and technology community. ASME conducts one of the world's largest technical publishing operations, holds numerous technical conferences worldwide, and offers hundreds of professional development courses each year. ASME sets internationally recognized industrial and manufacturing codes and standards that enhance public welfare and safety.
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