Engineers Without Borders plans to build Peruvian health clinic, hourglass
Franklin Kanin
Issue date: 4/11/07 Section: Campus News
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Engineers Without Borders-USA is a national nonprofit corporation founded in the fall of 2000 that promotes the "central role" engineers must play "in building a sustainable future." The Brown chapter of EWB was founded three years ago and legally became an official chapter of EWB-USA in May 2006.
Emily Kunen '08, president of the Brown chapter, said the group has two main goals - "on the one hand, to work on socially responsible engineering projects, but on the other hand, also educate engineering students and the community about the potential for that type of work."
"There's a lot of people who just think of engineers as consultants who you assign a task to and don't really take into consideration the social, political, economic and all other components of the work," she said.
The group worked on several projects while it was still in the process of joining the national group, and it has now expanded the scope of its projects, working on both the local and international levels.
One of EWB's current projects is the construction of a health clinic in Peru, a joint effort with the EWB chapter at the State University of New York-Binghamton.
Chioke Harris '08, vice president of EWB, said the Peru project is the group's "flagship" effort. "It's going to take the most resources, and we're working with another school on it," he said. "It's kind of a big deal."
The group also works on local projects, including work on campus and outreach to students in Providence schools. The group is currently building a large hourglass for Oxfam@Brown, which will be filled with marbles. A marble will fall through every three seconds to represent a child dying of starvation.