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February 10, 2006 > News > Rice Engineers Without Borders to host national conference

Rice Engineers Without Borders to host national conference

By Anne Hierholzer | Thresher staff

The Rice chapter of Engineers Without Borders will host the 2006 EWB International Conference at McNair Hall Feb. 16-18. About 300 people are expected to attend the event, at which students, business professionals and sponsors will attend workshops and seminars.

EWB chapters partner with developing areas to improve quality of life through engineering service projects. Such projects may include building water treatment systems and working to improve local citizens’ technical skills.

The Rice chapter of EWB, which currently has about 60 active members, was started in the spring of 2003 by three students, and the club is entirely student-run, EWB President Alex Gordon said.

Gordon, a Martel College senior, said the organization has grown rapidly since its founding.

“We’ve grown from about 10 members to 60,” Gordon said. “[We] have gone from having no budget at all to managing a $40,000-per-year budget.”

International conference

Gordon said he does not have any complicated plans for the conference.

“We want to help the national group achieve their objectives,” Gordon said. “We plan to do all that we can to ensure that the conference runs smoothly and successfully.”

Last year, members of the Rice EWB chapter attended the national conference in Colorado. The team working on a project in Mexico gave a presentation at the conference and was asked to present again in Washington, D.C. They worked with the executive director of EWB in giving this presentation and as a result were asked to host the national conference this year.

EWB External Vice President Joe Mendez said he thinks the conference will strengthen the Rice chapter.

“We hope that hosting the conference will help us cultivate a better relationship with the national group so that they are more easily approachable for us,” Mendez, a Hanszen College junior, said. “We also want to create and build on our relationships with the Houston community, and we hope to get the message about EWB out to the Rice campus.”

Most decisions regarding the conference, including the speakers and the theme, were made by the national EWB office. However, as hosts, the Rice EWB chapter influenced the conference’s themes. Rice’s main responsibilities will be to make introductions and arrange food and housing.

Rice faculty members, including George R. Brown School of Engineering Dean Sallie Keller-McNulty, will speak at the conference.

Mendez said the conference will also benefit Rice’s academic reputation.

“We felt that hosting the EWB conference would give Rice some good publicity on the national stage,” Mendez said. “It is our hope that the conference will promote our Rice engineering department and that it will better EWB’s relationships with Rice faculty and students.”

The conference consists of a series of workshops. An opening address will be followed by the introduction to the conference’s four main “pathways,” which cover subjects such as building, teaching and learning.

The three-day conference will make use of hands-on learning methods and collaborative discussion.

Rice EWB

The Rice chapter of EWB currently has four work sites: two in Nicaragua, one in Mexico and one in El Salvador. The chapter has previously completed a project in Mali.

The team in El Salvador built a 40,000-liter water storage tank and distribution system in San Jose Villanueva and continues to examine methods of addressing water contamination issues in the community.

The Mexico team is also working on water purification and on conducting land and health surveys in Piedritas.

One of the Nicaragua teams is working in Panama and Aragon to design a bridge, and the other team — the newest of the four — plans to install solar power and water purification facilities in Bernardino Diaz Ochoa.

“One problem we commonly run into is a lack of fresh water,” EWB Internal Vice President Deepa Panchang said. “When we test water samples in the communities we visit, there are often high levels of bacteria, which cause a variety of health problems. So we often find ourselves planning water purification systems.”

Before beginning a project, EWB members do preparatory field work. First, an exploratory trip is made, on which team members explore different communities and assess their needs. Then the members undertake a survey trip, which is a more in-depth look at the chosen community.

“One thing to stress about our work is that we specifically go and ask people what they need — we’re not trying to impose anything on them,” Panchang, a Martel junior, said. “We work and build together with the people we meet, stressing community, responsibility and empowerment.”

After the two trips, EWB members work in the United States, designing their project. Then students travel back to the communities and implement their work.

“We try to take on practical projects, meeting basic community needs,” Panchang said. “Recently, we installed solar panels in a church for a town that has no electricity. This allows them to use the church building as a community meeting place or maybe as a location for classes.”

The group takes care to ensure cultural differences are taken into account.

“It is important not to impose our Western culture on the communities we come into contact with,” Jessie Gill, a Baker College junior and EWB sustainability coordinator, said. “We want to meet their needs, not Westernize them. So we make sure that we work closely with communities and build relationships with their inhabitants.”

Engineers and volunteers

Panchang said EWB is different than typical community service activities because it exposes students to practical applications of engineering skills.

“We have a dual mission,” Panchang said. “We both address the basic needs … of the communities we encounter, and we give students international engineering experience.”

EWB often has a lasting effect on its participants, who cite international development and non-profit work as future career choices.

“The experiences EWB offers are one-of-a-kind — they simply cannot be had elsewhere,” Gordon said. “The work you do with us will shape you and deeply impact your future.”

Gill said EWB has made her more aware of world issues.

“I believe that everyone owes at least two years of public service, either to their country or to the world,” Gill said. “EWB offers students a hands-on, practical way of giving back.”

Although its name suggests otherwise, EWB is open to students who are not engineering majors.

“We are not just a group of engineers,” Gill said. “We need managers, translators, organizers, problem solvers and thinkers. Anyone can learn the technical skills we use, like pouring concrete. All that we require is that people be able to think outside the box.”

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