Spring Break
Engineers without borders
Texas A&M students give a hand across the world
By: Laura Sanchez
Issue date: 4/7/09 Section: Features
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Students traveled to Acuña, Mexico, to build a library for the elementary school Escuela
Independencia. The project was planned, designed and funded by students. With the help of professional engineer adviser Jon Fripp, the idea came to light easily, said Jonathan Sterling, senior industrial distribution major and vice president of projects.
"He basically put us in contact with a ministry organization in Acuña, WIDE Ministries," he said. "We contacted them about potential projects in the community. That's when WIDE looked around, and the school suggested they needed some place to put their books. That's when we decided that would be our project."
The purpose of EWB is to use construction skills to help communities in need.
"The mission is to apply our resources, both monetary, academic and personal, to serve people in need and to develop sustainable and innovative solutions to the current needs in other parts of the world and locally," Sterling said.
The process took a few months to prepare and 12 days to construct. The parent organization, EWB-USA, approved the project and allowed students to take a preliminary assessment trip.
"The first time we went was last May," said John Zwerneman, junior civil engineering major and project leader. "We just got a lot of information about the site, a few of the beginning formations, and we got to know the person who we're staying with. Then we came back with all the information and started the design in the beginning of the fall semester."
Although helping the community is the main goal of EWB, the hands-on experience the students received was also beneficial.
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