Engineers Without Borders – USA (EWB–USA) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

humanitarian organization. It represents the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

within the larger international Engineers Without Borders in the U.S. It involves the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while consider ...

and engineering students.

History

Engineers Without Borders – USA (EWB-USA) was born from a chance meeting of Bernard Amadei (a professor of

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

from the University of Colorado Boulder), and Angel Tzec (a representative of the

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

Ministry of Agriculture). Tzec's village in Belize was in a difficult situation because it had no running water or

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

. Tzec invited Dr. Amadei to visit his village in Belize, where he saw how laborious a task it was for the villagers to gather water. "I came across little girls who had to carry water back and forth to the village all day, so they couldn't go to

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

", Amadei says. "I knew that as a civil engineer, there had to be something I could do." In 2002, Amadei returned with eight University of Colorado Boulder students and a local civil engineer, also from Boulder. With the help of the local community, they installed a clean water system powered by a

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

in the area for less than $15,000. It was from this experience that Dr. Amadei came to see that he could utilize professional and student engineers to improve the quality of life in other development projects around the world.

Awards

In 2010, EWB–USA received the Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology from the National Building Museum. In a statement from the prize jury, by Art Gensler said, "This organization gives locals hope and talented engineering professionals the opportunity to share their knowledge with countries that can so greatly benefit from their efforts."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Engineers Without Borders - USA USA Non-profit organizations based in Colorado Organizations established in 2000 American Society of Civil Engineers Development charities based in the United States