About Engineers Without Borders
Engineers Without Borders – UW Madison is a non-profit student run organization whose focus is to partner with disadvantaged communities to implement sustainable solutions to the most pressing needs of the people. Our UW-Madison Chapter of EWB was established in 2003 and within its first year a project was born. This first project started in Muramba, Rwanda under the direction of the late Peter Bosscher, our founder and first faculty advisor. Now in its fifth year of operation, the once small student chapter has expanded to over 80 active members and is working with 5 communities scattered across the globe. We strive to teach young engineers responsible engineering by encouraging and advising them in international projects, community interaction, and the advancement of the Wisconsin Idea to spread the benefits of the university beyond its bounds.
EWB-UW operates five programs at this time. Each is introduced below.
Muramba, Rwanda continues to be the longest running EWB-UW project. Most notably, students have traveled there for project implementation in July 2005 and July 2007. Projects continue to focus on developing sustainable water and energy infrastructure. In past trips to the community in April 2004 and July 2004, EWB-UW teams identified the lack of potable water as the community’s greatest need. The team found the current water distribution system to be seriously inadequate with deficiencies in system operation and maintenance, water quality and water quantity. A continuation of these projects took place in July 2007, adding a rainwater collection system to the water supply. Efforts continue in the areas of water distribution, fuel briquetting, and efficient stoves.
El Salvador was then added to the list of countries where EWB-UW collaborated. These communities were La Granja and Nuevo Ferrocarril in the San Salvador district of El Salvador. Here the communities face a sanitation crisis. With no centralized form of wastewater collection, residents are forced to dump wastewater into the streets, resulting in significant health problems in the community. EWB-UW committed to help these communities find sustainable solutions to their sanitation needs by designing a low-cost wastewater collection system to be financed and implemented in January 2008. Cost and the breadth of the project of expanded our efforts here to included work throughout 2008 and into 2009.
In the fall of 2007, the EWB-UW began a project in the community of Orongo, Kenya. It began with a student from Sweden who, in 2003, wrote his masters’ thesis on this village’s water quality amongst other urgent village needs. The Kenya Project was organized with this information at hand and a few central contacts within the village. Immediately, dozens of student members began research on possible community projects in the areas of agriculture/irrigation, agroforestry, zeer pot refrigeration, and water purification. The first assessment trip was scheduled for January 2008, but was cancelled due to violence after the national election. The actual first assessment trip took place from August 11th through August 30th, 2008. The main focus was to learn from the community which issues are most important to them so that designs could best address these desires.
Bernard Amadei created the Bayonnais Haiti Project in the summer of 2002 at the University of Colorado. EWB-UW entered the project through the interest of students with ties to UC. The original assessment trip in November of 2002 found a community living in great poverty, but with huge potential. Community meetings, water testing, and other inquiries identified the area’s four most pressing needs: enterprise, alternative fuel to charcoal, bridge across the river, and cheaper electricity for the school. The original project was divided into several phases. The current phase in which EWB-UW operates is the bridge construction. Little was completed on the project in 2003 except for planning, research, and contacts. The bridge team made their first trip to survey the site and materials in the summer of 2004. The bridge was designed throughout the fall and winter of 2004-2005. In spring of 2005, in a joint trip, the footing for the bridge was constructed. Implementation trips continued for the bridge project until it became too dangerous to travel due to political upheaval. At that time, the bridge was unfinished. It was not until the spring of 2006 that EWB was able to visit again and complete the bridge.
Most recently, our chapter began a project closer to home. We have made contacts with the Red Cliff Tribe whose reservation is just north of Bayfield, WI. This is the first EWB-USA approved domestic project that EWB-UW has participated in. The Red Cliff Tribe suffers from a shortage of housing and related infrastructure. Some existing public housing has incurred significant flood damage during storm events due to lack of stormwater management. The present project would at a minimum involve: designing sewer, water, and stormwater facilities for the second phase of a new 120-lot subdivision, and site assessing stormwater planning, and stormwater facility design to protect existing developments and improve water quality.
EWB-UW operates five programs at this time. Each is introduced below.
Muramba, Rwanda continues to be the longest running EWB-UW project. Most notably, students have traveled there for project implementation in July 2005 and July 2007. Projects continue to focus on developing sustainable water and energy infrastructure. In past trips to the community in April 2004 and July 2004, EWB-UW teams identified the lack of potable water as the community’s greatest need. The team found the current water distribution system to be seriously inadequate with deficiencies in system operation and maintenance, water quality and water quantity. A continuation of these projects took place in July 2007, adding a rainwater collection system to the water supply. Efforts continue in the areas of water distribution, fuel briquetting, and efficient stoves. El Salvador was then added to the list of countries where EWB-UW collaborated. These communities were La Granja and Nuevo Ferrocarril in the San Salvador district of El Salvador. Here the communities face a sanitation crisis. With no centralized form of wastewater collection, residents are forced to dump wastewater into the streets, resulting in significant health problems in the community. EWB-UW committed to help these communities find sustainable solutions to their sanitation needs by designing a low-cost wastewater collection system to be financed and implemented in January 2008. Cost and the breadth of the project of expanded our efforts here to included work throughout 2008 and into 2009. In the fall of 2007, the EWB-UW began a project in the community of Orongo, Kenya. It began with a student from Sweden who, in 2003, wrote his masters’ thesis on this village’s water quality amongst other urgent village needs. The Kenya Project was organized with this information at hand and a few central contacts within the village. Immediately, dozens of student members began research on possible community projects in the areas of agriculture/irrigation, agroforestry, zeer pot refrigeration, and water purification. The first assessment trip was scheduled for January 2008, but was cancelled due to violence after the national election. The actual first assessment trip took place from August 11th through August 30th, 2008. The main focus was to learn from the community which issues are most important to them so that designs could best address these desires. Bernard Amadei created the Bayonnais Haiti Project in the summer of 2002 at the University of Colorado. EWB-UW entered the project through the interest of students with ties to UC. The original assessment trip in November of 2002 found a community living in great poverty, but with huge potential. Community meetings, water testing, and other inquiries identified the area’s four most pressing needs: enterprise, alternative fuel to charcoal, bridge across the river, and cheaper electricity for the school. The original project was divided into several phases. The current phase in which EWB-UW operates is the bridge construction. Little was completed on the project in 2003 except for planning, research, and contacts. The bridge team made their first trip to survey the site and materials in the summer of 2004. The bridge was designed throughout the fall and winter of 2004-2005. In spring of 2005, in a joint trip, the footing for the bridge was constructed. Implementation trips continued for the bridge project until it became too dangerous to travel due to political upheaval. At that time, the bridge was unfinished. It was not until the spring of 2006 that EWB was able to visit again and complete the bridge. Most recently, our chapter began a project closer to home. We have made contacts with the Red Cliff Tribe whose reservation is just north of Bayfield, WI. This is the first EWB-USA approved domestic project that EWB-UW has participated in. The Red Cliff Tribe suffers from a shortage of housing and related infrastructure. Some existing public housing has incurred significant flood damage during storm events due to lack of stormwater management. The present project would at a minimum involve: designing sewer, water, and stormwater facilities for the second phase of a new 120-lot subdivision, and site assessing stormwater planning, and stormwater facility design to protect existing developments and improve water quality.
