Engineers Without Borders

In January, senior physics major Leonard Goff traveled with a team, from the University of Maryland chapter of Engineers Without Borders, to the West African nation of Burkina Faso to install solar panels and lighting systems in eleven village schools surrounding the town of Dissin. Physics graduate student Matthew Adams also contributed to the planning of the project here at the University of Maryland. The installation of the sustainable energy sources in Burkina Faso will enable evening classroom activities, community meetings and other gatherings for the Burkinabé citizens. This tour follows up on a project evaluation trip conducted a year ago.

Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Jungho Kim accompanied the team as a faculty advisor to the student volunteers, most of whom were from the A. James Clark School of Engineering. In addition to the Department of Physics, other students were from the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Civil Engineering Associate Professor David Lovell also joined the tour to assess future projects that will automate the public water pumping process for storage in a tank.

To show their gratitude for the team's efforts, village elders presented them with six live chickens, a live pheasant, a bag of onions, and a lot of memories.

Other campus Engineers Without Borders projects include improving water sanitation in Ecuador, advised by Mechanical Engineering faculty Elias Balaras; potable water and irrigation enhancements in Thailand, advised by Civil Engineering faculty Deborah Goodings; and the improvement of potable water availability in Brazil, advised by Peter Chang from Civil Engineering. The chapter is also planning to start local sustainability projects in the future.

The University of Maryland chapter of Engineers Without Borders welcomes students from all majors, including physics.  Interested students are encouraged to contact Leonard Goff, Matthew Adams, or chapter president Sarah Ness.

Front row: in-country contact M. L'Abbé Thomas Hien and Professor Jungho Kim; Second row, L to R: Thierry Some (ME), Tammy Perrin (EE), Jaganath Sankaran (Masters in Engineering and Public Policy), Leonard Goff (Physics), Maria Stoica (EE); Third row, L to R: Jason Lee (MBA), Christen Hartnett (MBA), Jason West (Aerospace, EWB team leader), Bob Hayes (ME).

Students studying at night under one of the newly installed lighting systems.  Left: battery box and light switches.

 

 

 

* Article from Department of Mechanical Engineering