From the playground to the Third World, the members of Engineers Without Borders plan to lend their expertise toward helping those in need.

OU's chapter of Engineers Without Borders now has about 15 members. Those members are chasing down possible hydro-philanthropy projects in developing nations, such as Honduras, Liberia and Mongolia.

"It is a really great medium to use our engineering skills, what little we have, to do something big for being pretty small as a student," said Stew Harwood, chemical engineering senior.

When he began to think about his capstone project, Harwood said he decided he wanted to do something real, something he could actually implement.

He took his idea to create water systems in underdeveloped countries to engineering faculty members and the Engineers Without Borders organization came up as a possible avenue for that idea. Other students started to show interest in the organization.

Engineers Without Borders



o Started in September by Stew Harwood, chemical engineering senior, in connection with his capstone project



o Now has about 15 members



o Planning philanthropy projects to help with water systems in developing nations

"It was really exciting to see word of mouth travel," Harwood said. "All of these other engineers started coming out of the woodwork."

Harwood said the motivation behind the group is mostly philanthropic.

"I really wanted to do something that would be helpful to some bigger scheme," Harwood said.

The possibility of using the project as a capstone partially fell through, but the interest in philanthropy continued to grow.

Caroline Cochran, mechanical engineering senior, said she has been studying the viability of one of the possible water-system projects.

In Colonia Allen, Honduras, residents of a small mountain village must walk a mile to the nearest fresh water spring and carry their water back to their homes, Cochran said. There is no guarantee there will be water at the spring or that the water will be clean.

Cochran said the project for the students would involve damming the spring, designing and implementing a water filtration system and installing a storage receptacle for the water.

Kyle Wright, computer science senior, is the president of OU Engineers Without Borders, which officially formed as a student organization in September.

The organization must work to raise the $20,000 necessary to make its trip and implement the project, Wright said.

On top of this, the engineering students said they hope to get their feet wet with smaller, local projects.

Cochran said Engineers Without Borders plans to conduct improvements on the playground of the Cleveland County Youth and Family Center, 1650 W. Tecumseh Road. These improvements include soft landing areas around the equipment and devising ways to eliminate hot equipment in the summer.

They also plan to help area Boy Scouts achieve the newly implemented engineering merit badge, Wright said.

Randall Kolar, OU associate professor of civil engineering, said the group's mission is patterned after another international organization, Doctors Without Borders.

OU Engineers Without Borders falls under the umbrella of a larger civil engineering project started by engineering professors at OU. The Water Technologies in Emerging Regions Center or WATER Center seeks to provide potable water in under-developed communities both in the United States and abroad.

Harwood said he wanted to know what he could do with his engineering abilities in light of the current world situation.

"It's encouraging to see people who are willing to go and pursue something that won't be as beneficial financially and career-wise, but they know it will be beneficial to others," Harwood said.

Wright said this new organization is trying to take off and undertake big projects that can really make a difference in people's lives.

"It's not just for engineering students. We're trying to have it interdisciplinary," Wright said. "There's plenty of work to be done that doesn't require engineering expertise."
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