Engineering Students Work to Improve Quality of Life for Disadvantaged Communities

Each year the PSU student chapter of Engineers Without Borders designs a project or projects to help improve the quality of life in disadvantaged communities. Each project the students work on requires a professional mentor either from the Professional Engineers without Borders Chapter or a licensed Professional Engineer from the greater Portland community.

In the summer of 2008, students will travel to Nicaragua to perform assessments and implement projects in three cities. Students will help to restore the quality and adequacy of water at a regional hospital in Puerto Cabezas, help improve flood control for a school in Jinotepe, and address the saltwater intrusion in a community well in an area near Jinotepe. Their goal is to complete all three projects in two weeks. In order to achieve their goal much of the work must be done prior to leaving Portland.

This will mark the group’s third trip to Nicaragua. During the summer of 2007 students spent time at an elderly care facility securing the roof, overhauling the electrical system, and increasing the facility’s water supply. In 2006, students spent their spring break working on efficient irrigation and water storage capacity projects at elderly care facilities.

Back home in Portland, students participate in various workshops and give presentations throughout the year. In the fall of 2006, the Portland Chapter hosted the Engineers without Borders West Coast Regional workshop at Portland State University. Part of the goal of Engineers Without Borders is to raise awareness of infrastructure problems in developing communities.

For more information, please contact the Portland State University Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders:

Email: ewbpsu@pdx.edu
Web site: http://ewb.pdx.edu/index.html