Engineers Without Borders: CAEE Students Make A Substantial Difference Worldwide
Students and the people of Jaboncillos Chicos, Mexico, proudly pose in front of their new water tank.
Several Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering students recently completed a life-altering assignment in the Coahuila desert of Mexico. Through the Engineering Without Borders organization at the University of Texas (EWB-UT), students helped improve a community's access to clean water by establishing a distribution system in Jaboncillos Chicos, Mexico.
Engineers Without Borders is a non-profit humanitarian organization that partners with developing countries to implement projects that will improve the quality of life in impoverished communities. The Engineers Without Borders—University of Texas chapter was founded in 2005 by two students. More than 90 active student members from various engineering and non-engineering disciplines participate. Members are both graduate and undergraduate students.
The organization also greatly encourages academic collaboration. For the Coahuila desert project, CAEE students worked with peers from the Urban Studies, Latin American Studies, and Electrical Engineering programs at UT.
The input of townspeople is integral to the project so that it will best benefit them over time.
The first completed project of EWB-UT began in Summer 2008 in the small desert community of Jaboncillos Chicos, located 25 miles south of Big Bend National Park. Community members formerly had to drive to collect water from a natural mountain spring. With the help of professional mentor, Anne Johnson, EWB-UT volunteers began formulating a plan to install a solar-powered distribution system. The goal was to be able to store water and pump it into every home in the community.
EBW-UT members helped perform land surveying, water testing, and a health study in order to determine the best system design. They then pitched potential ideas to community members for their approval and gathered their input. Once the two groups determined what would most benefit the community, the next phase began.
Students completed the solar powered water system in the background.
Civil engineering student Adrienne O'Neill says, "Our goal is to always go into the community and not just give people something but build something in collaboration with them and really empower them to continue doing projects like that on their own."
Over a two year period, both EWB-UT and the community worked together to install faucets at each house, dig distribution trenches, assemble concrete pad reinforcements, and lay pipe throughout the town. They also encountered land rights issues that often required the team to problem-solve from thousands of miles away.
Community members and students participated in town meetings so that they could collectively plan the water system.
Students quickly learned that making a project actually work is very different from theoretical learning. Not only did they learn a great deal from community members, but they also discovered what it is like to work as a group and with people from a different culture.
"We're not just dealing with designing the technical aspects of our project, we're also looking at cultural barriers and communication,
" says Paula Kulis, an environmental and water resources engineering graduate student.
In August of 2008, the team travelled back to Mexico to complete the implementation of the system. Several days after the team's arrival, another challenge presented itself: a sudden windstorm irreparably damaged one of the unmounted solar panels. Without this solar panel, the system was unable to carry water as far as needed. After two new solar panels were rushed to the community and the water system was disinfected, potable water finally ran to each house in Jaboncillos Chicos.
Students enjoyed applying what they have learned in school and establishing long-term relationships with the people of Jaboncillos Chicos.
While this project was a sizeable commitment, all students agree that the work is deeply rewarding. The generosity of the people they help reinforces the importance of an engineering career. The EWB-UT team continues to keep in contact with the Jaboncillos Chicos community members for technical support and maintenance issues, and plans to travel to the community within the next year to add enhancements to the system and check on its status. Many CAEE students who were instrumental in the project are now working with other communities to help them meet their basic needs.
"What I'll gain from this experience,"
says civil engineering student and EWB-UT president Yen Lai, " is to work hands-on with other engineers and to see how my career affects other people's lives.
"