University of Wyoming Chapter of Engineers Without Borders™

Educating a new generation of engineers to meet the challenges of a developing world is an imperative that requires engineers to have the knowledge, skills and tools appropriate to address the issues facing our world today and in the future. The world population is expected to grow by 2 billion over the next 20 years, with 95% of that growth occurring in developing or under-developed countries. Energy, water, food, land, transportation, materials, waste disposal, health care, earth moving, environmental cleanup and infrastructure will be required on an unprecedented scale, and engineers will be critical to fulfilling these demands.

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them,” said Albert Einstein of the world in his time, but his words remain true today. The University of Wyoming (UW) College of Engineering and Applied Science (COE) believes that these problems will be best solved through education and exposure of its engineering students to real-life problems requiring new thinking on a broader scale. This new generation of engineers will collaborate with local communities to find solutions that must be simple for an under-developed country, yet this simplicity will be challenging to create.

UW's COE is expanding its students' education and experience to address our world's engineering needs through a student chapter of Engineers Without Borders™ - USA (EWB-USA). EWB-USA is "a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. This partnership involves the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training internationally responsible engineers and engineering students." The student chapter at the University of Wyoming carries the banner EWB-WYO.

Phase I

Phase I, which is currently underway, consists of growing EWB-WYO by performing a pilot project. There is an initial ramp-up needed to attend regional and national conferences, make presentations, participate in technical workshops, and develop marketing materials to find donors for the chapter. Then in conjunction with the project group at EWB-USA, the UW Chapter will select a pilot project, and define the students and faculty roles and responsibilities. This project will be executed and the "best practices" will be captured to use in Phase II.

Phase II

Phase II takes the experience from Phase I and focuses on creating repeatable successes in the EWB-WYO projects that UW's chapter selects. Marketing to students and donors is ongoing, but a track record of successful projects will in itself be the main attraction for students to join the chapter and participate in projects. Successful projects will also become the motivation for donors to enable the projects to continue.

Development Projects to Fund the UW EWB-USA Chapter Program

Phase I

The estimated cost of the program for Phase I is $50K, which includes $10K to establish the UW chapter and $40K for the pilot project (these project costs do not include any significant materials costs, which are often donated by various corporations and organizations). A $1M endowment fund would provide these funds, but a time lag of approximately 2 years would be needed before funds become available. Phase I needs to find donors to give a total of $50K for each of the 2 years, while additional donors are found to create the $1M endowment. With the continuation of the Wyoming State Matching funds, donors are needed to achieve a $500K amount that would be matched to total to the $1M needed.

Phase II

Ideally, there would be multiple projects performed each year, and funding of $100K per year would allow $10K for Chapter non-project costs and $90K to use on 2-3 projects. The $1M endowment fund achieved during Phase I would cover half these costs, but an additional $1M ($500K each from donors and State match) is needed to generate $100K each year.

Contacts

Richard J. Schmidt, Associate Dean, schmidt@uwyo.edu

Sherrie Merrow, Director of Development and Communications, smerrow@uwyo.edu