USU Students Present at International Conference

Utah State University’s Engineers Without Borders was one of three student groups selected to present at the organization’s international conference in Houston, Texas.

EWB-USU is a club dedicated to improving the quality of life by providing solutions to engineering projects. Students, professionals and professors work as a team on various projects around the country and the world. The team has worked on clean water and shelter projects in Uganda, Peru and Tibet.

 

Laurie McNeill, faculty mentor and assistant professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering, said the conference allows teams to get together and exchange information about their research experiences.

 

Undergraduate students Hailey Ferrara, Josh Hirschi, Cody Moultrie, Cristina Nelson, Steve Theurer and Josh Wilde presented their research and spoke about these trips at the conference.

 

“Our project had several aspects other students could learn and benefit from,” said Wilde, EWB-USU vice president. “Few other universities are working with experimental technologies, and a great deal of our project has been research-based.”

 

While EWB-USU’s purpose is to provide water and shelter to underdeveloped communities, Wilde said it’s also about forming a new kind of engineer. One, he said, who is conscious of the needs that exist in the world and who knows how to help.

 

“We’re getting real-world experience before we’re even close to graduating.” said Wilde. “We can see the effects our education can have on the world.”

 

EWB-USU is currently working on a project in a community outside Peru’s capital city, Lima. Due to the lack of sanitation facilities and clean water, communicable disease is prevalent in this area. EWB-USU hopes to provide wells and proper sanitation conveniences to the community, as well as to teach them the simple technology required to improve daily hygiene.

 

The group said that once the community is educated on the procedures, it will be able to teach other communities how to pump water and build sanitation facilities.

 

Wilde said USU provides students the opportunity to do whatever they want and encouraged any student to get involved and take advantage of those opportunities.

 

“Do it, you’ll never regret it,” said Wilde. “It’s a lot of time. It’s blood, sweat, tears, success and failure. It’s worth every second.”