ASME Auxiliary is in the midst of a campaign to raise $8,500 to support one or more humanitarian programs being conducted by Engineers Without Borders-USA, the American chapter of the nonprofit humanitarian network Engineers Without Borders.

Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA) was established in 2000 by Bernard Amadie, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. During his keynote address at the 2007 ASME Congress, Amadie presented a video of a project in a small village in Belize. The girls in that village were not able to attend school as it was necessary for them to carry water 120 feet uphill from a river continuously each day. Upon returning to his university, he recruited several undergraduate students to design a solution — 3,000 feet of pipeline and a river-powered pump that would carry water to the village from the river. After designing the system, the students raised funds for materials and for their travel to Belize to install the pipeline. This is how the first student chapter of Engineers Without Borders-USA was begun.

EWB team members building the pipeline in Belize.

Engineers Without Borders-USA projects focus on providing assistance with engineering needs in developing areas worldwide. This involves designing and constructing sustainable, basic infrastructure projects. These may be water, wastewater, sanitation, energy, and shelter systems. During the project, an emphasis is placed on education so that the host country is able to maintain the systems without external assistance.

In 2004, then-ASME President Reggie Vachon signed an agreement with EWB-USA to provide assistance with engineering needs for developing areas worldwide, and to promote involvement among ASME members. Since then, ASME and EWB-USA have been cooperating on a number of projects to engineer a better world.

At the November 2007 National Board Meeting of the ASME Auxiliary, the board decided to try to raise $8,500 for a special award to be given to one or more projects supported by EWB-USA in celebration of the Auxiliary’s 85th-year anniversary. So far, more than $6,500 has been collected. We want to thank all of you who have contributed to this worthy cause.

There is still time to contribute if you haven’t done so already. Please send your contributions to Stella Seiders, auxiliary treasurer, with an indication that the contribution is for the 85th-anniversary celebration fund. Her address is 3152 S. Rockford Drive, Tulsa, OK 74105.

— Nina Webb
Publicity Chair

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