Engineers Without Borders founder urges change
Anthony Cesarini
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: News
"It really broke my heart when I saw that," Amadei said.
Amadei then spoke to the local people and agreed to install a pump to move the water from the source to the village. He said initially, he thought it would be a simple task, but then realized there were unique constraints on installing a pump in San Pablo. The village did not have electricity, and could not afford to continually pay for fuel to power a pump. Luckily for the Amadei and the villagers, a waterfall was nearby.
"Well, if you have a waterfall, you have potential energy," he said. "And if you have potential energy, you have the potential to do something."
After discussing the problem with colleagues, Amadei realized that a ram pump, a device that uses the energy of falling water to move a lesser amount of water, would work in San Pablo.
According to Amadei, EWB really got off the ground with students. After telling students in his classes about his project in Belize, student after student started coming to his office to talk to him about the project.
"It's rare when I see so many students when I teach statics or dynamics," he said.
Amadei and his students designed a ram pump for the village and flew to Belize to install it. Amadei thought that everyone had fun and a good hands-on experience working on the project, but he didn't see work like the ram pump in his future. However, Amadei's work was hardly finished.
"The students wanted to do more," he said. "That's how Engineers Without Borders really started."
Seven years later, EWB has over 14,000 members across the United States and is working on 311 projects in 43 countries, according to Amadei.
He also explained how his work in Belize changed his perception of engineering. To Amadei, engineering is not simply about providing technical solutions; the social aspect of engineering can be just as important.
The Belize experience also led to his decision to dedicate the rest of his life to performing "small-scale engineering with a huge social impact," Amadei said.
Amadei then spoke to the local people and agreed to install a pump to move the water from the source to the village. He said initially, he thought it would be a simple task, but then realized there were unique constraints on installing a pump in San Pablo. The village did not have electricity, and could not afford to continually pay for fuel to power a pump. Luckily for the Amadei and the villagers, a waterfall was nearby.
"Well, if you have a waterfall, you have potential energy," he said. "And if you have potential energy, you have the potential to do something."
After discussing the problem with colleagues, Amadei realized that a ram pump, a device that uses the energy of falling water to move a lesser amount of water, would work in San Pablo.
According to Amadei, EWB really got off the ground with students. After telling students in his classes about his project in Belize, student after student started coming to his office to talk to him about the project.
"It's rare when I see so many students when I teach statics or dynamics," he said.
Amadei and his students designed a ram pump for the village and flew to Belize to install it. Amadei thought that everyone had fun and a good hands-on experience working on the project, but he didn't see work like the ram pump in his future. However, Amadei's work was hardly finished.
"The students wanted to do more," he said. "That's how Engineers Without Borders really started."
Seven years later, EWB has over 14,000 members across the United States and is working on 311 projects in 43 countries, according to Amadei.
He also explained how his work in Belize changed his perception of engineering. To Amadei, engineering is not simply about providing technical solutions; the social aspect of engineering can be just as important.
The Belize experience also led to his decision to dedicate the rest of his life to performing "small-scale engineering with a huge social impact," Amadei said.
Be the first to comment on this story