10/26/2009
On Oct. 15, Engineers Without Borders at Illinois, was honored several years of hard work in developing nations. The cities of Champaign and Urbana selected EWB-UIUC as a recipient of the 2009 Champaign-Urbana International Humanitarian Awards.
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On Oct. 15, Engineers Without Borders at Illinois, was honored several years of hard work in developing nations. The cities of Champaign and Urbana selected EWB-UIUC as a recipient of the 2009 Champaign-Urbana International Humanitarian Awards.
The awards banquet, held at the Hilton Garden Inn, was attended by EWB students Suhail Barot, Amanda Burns, David Hsu, Parker Laubach, and Nina Stojak.
"It felt really humbling, to be in the room filled with so many other people who have accomplished so much in their lives," said David Hsu, president of EWB-UIUC. "It just goes to remind you that service to society is a way of life, and that we should all live life with service as a central foundation."
Engineers Without Borders is an organization that works with communities in many developing countries. EWB-UIUC currently has four international projects, in Nigeria, Guatemala, Cameroon, and Mexico, dealing with a wide arrange of issues, from water treatment and distribution to sustainable housing solutions. Students form teams for each project, and typically travel to the community to assess the conditions and resources that are available, before returning to school, and designing a sustainable solution. After the design is complete, students travel to implement the project, make sure that it functions effectively and train the community to maintain the system. The UIUC chapter is also engaged in educating the local public and students about sustainable technology, such as alternative energy, or biofuels.
On one of the past projects in Orissa, India, the EWB-UIUC team succeeded in electrifying a community, and when project members returned a year and a half after the project's completion, they found that the villagers had expanded the system and added more functionality to it. "That's really what developmental work is about. It's not about making the system, but about ensuring the survival and sustainability of the system once you leave. That's the big challenge in our work," says Suhail Barot, the treasurer of EWB-UIUC. For now, the students will have to juggle their academic work in their classes with their developmental work. But judging from past and current successes, Engineers Without Borders will continue to educate students on becoming active citizens of the world for a long time to come.
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Writer/Contact: David Hsu, EWB-UIUC, 217/819-1311.
If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, Engineering Communications Office, 217/244-7716, editor.