Engineers Without Borders founder to give Congress keynote address

During the next 10 years, the world's population is predicted to grow by an additional 2 billion people, and 95 percent of them will live in developing or underdeveloped countries. According to Bernard Amadei, founding president of the humanitarian organization Engineers Without Borders-USA, it will be up to the engineers of the world to fulfill the resulting unparalleled demand for such essentials as energy, food, land, water, environmental cleanup, telecommunication, and infrastructure.

"As we enter the first half of the 21st century, the engineering profession must embrace a new mission statement — to contribute to the building of a more sustainable, stable, and equitable world," Amadei said.

Bernard Amadei

Amadei, a professor of civil, environmental, and architectural engineering at the University of Colorado in Boulder, will discuss these new engineering challenges during his keynote presentation, "Engineering Innovation and Research With a Human Face," at the 2007 ASME International Congress and Exposition this November.

The Congress, ASME's annual meeting for the discussion of advanced technologies, will take place Nov. 11–15 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.

Amadei is the co-founder of the Engineers Without Borders-International network. It partners with disadvantaged communities to improve their quality of life through the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training internationally responsible engineering professionals and students.

"Today, an estimated 20 percent of the world's population lacks clean water, 40 percent lacks adequate sanitation, and 20 percent lacks adequate housing," Amadei said. "There is an urgent need for developing small-scale appropriate and sustainable technologies that meet the basic needs of the poor and for creating sustainable entrepreneurship opportunities at the community level."

Amadei said his presentation will address "the challenges and opportunities associated with developing engineering solutions for the four billion people at the bottom of the pyramid. It will discuss how engineers can design and implement solutions and technologies that are small-scale, energy-efficient, environmentally sound, and simple enough to be maintained by the people who use it. In addition, the solutions must foster self-reliance, cooperation, entrepreneurship, and responsibility at the local level."

Amadei's keynote session will be just one of many special events taking place at the 2007 Congress. Others you won't want to miss include the new Innovation Showcase, the Invention to Venture Workshop, the Early Career Forum and Career Fair, the Student Design Competition, and the Honors Assembly.

To find out more about the 2007 Congress, visit www.asmeconferences.org/Congress07.

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