Engineers to give keynote at youth global water event

Thu, October 22, 2009 |

Valparaiso University's chapter of Engineers Without Borders will teach Indiana middle school science students about global water issues at a Nov. 13 leadership conference in Indianapolis.

The IMAGINE Middle School Global Leadership Conference, "Water: The Lifeblood of Humanity," will take place at The Orchard School with more than 120 students and 30 teachers from 30 schools across the state in attendance. Each school will be represented by a team of four students and one teacher.

Valpo's Engineers Without Borders Tanzania Team, which traveled to the African nation in May to start its second water project on the continent, will give the keynote address and tell students about how they are using humanitarian engineering to help people in areas of the world where water is scarce.

"The keynote presentation will be designed to educate the students about water issues on a global scale, using our experiences in Africa as examples," said Tim Staub, a junior engineering major and EWB member. "In the presentation, we'll describe our work with a Kenyan village installing wells and our new water project working with a Tanzanian village to repair their failing irrigation canal."

The keynote will be given by five Valpo EWB members and engineering majors – senior James Nagel of Bronxville, N.Y.; senior Rachel Howell of Dexter, Mich.; junior Hannah Allchin of Uniontown, Ohio; senior Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath of Louisville, Ky.; and Staub of Davenport, Iowa – who will describe their water restoration projects.

The IMAGINE conference is held annually at The Orchard School in Indianapolis, an independent, non-sectarian school for students in preschool through grade eight. The goal of the IMAGINE conference is to challenge Indiana middle school students to think critically about issues affecting humanity locally and globally. In its first two years, the conference has provided a foundation for many schools looking at issues affecting humanity locally and globally. Brownsburg Community Schools obtained funding to build a green roof for the school after being inspired by last year's conference topic, "Environmental Justice," and school leaders plan to install the new roof this fall.

Engineers Without Borders is a national organization founded in 2002 that now has nearly 200 student chapters and 85 professional chapters across the country. Valpo's chapter was founded in 2003 as the first student chapter outside the state of Colorado. The chapter's mission is to apply sustainable engineering practice to aid under-developed countries, and water is the main focus of recent EWB projects.

In 2008, the chapter completed a five-year project constructing drinking and irrigation water systems for the village of Nakor in Kenya. As a result of the project, the rate of waterborne illnesses in Nakor has dropped substantially and the problem of chronic malnourishment in the village has eased.

EWB-VU was the first university chapter to begin a project in Kenya and it was named a Friend of Kenya by the country's ambassador last year. Valpo's chapter won the Engineers Without Borders-USA Educational Achievement Award in 2005 and members have presented information about its Nakor project at several conferences, including the World Education Colloquium in Rio de Janeiro.

More information on Valpo's EWB Chapter can be found at http://www.valpo.edu/student/ewb/EWB-VU/Home.html.