Engineers Without Borders-USA has announced that GeoEngineers’ fall grant to EWB-USA’s 2012 Project Grants Program will support EWB’s Utah State University chapter’s Peru Team.
The team’s water project will improve drinking water quality and availability to communities near the town of Pucara on the Peruvian Altiplano. On an earlier trip to Peru, the team undertook testing that revealed elevated arsenic levels in one community’s water supply. Their future work will address arsenic remediation.
Peru team members (seated, left to right) Shane Robinson, Zach Peterson, Caitlyn Erickson, Shannon Eilers, David Stevens and Jonathan McCulley are pictured above with Tuni Grande community members (standing, left to right) Andres, Miguel, Fabian, Cayetano, Juan and Andres.
EWB-USA is non-profit, humanitarian organization that supports community-driven development programs worldwide through partnerships that design and implement sustainable engineering projects. EWB-USA members, who are student and professional engineers and scientists, work with local communities and non-government organizations in over 45 developing countries around the world on projects such as water, renewable energy and sanitation.
As a corporate sponsor of EWB-USA, GeoEngineers has provided annual grants to student chapters since 2007. In its spring 2012 grant, the company supported the University of Idaho EWB team, which is designing and implementing a potable water distribution system for the community of Chiwirapi in Bolivia. According to the World Health Organization, diarrheal disease is the third leading cause of death in Bolivia, and is largely a result of drinking contaminated water.
Dave Cook, LG, CPG, a principal geologist in GeoEngineers’ Seattle office and a founding member of the EWB-USA Corporate Leadership Council, is happy that the firm’s grants really make a difference to the students. He remarked, “We try to select projects where our contribution will tip the balance to allow a trip to proceed. We also look for schools where we have nearby offices so our staff can be a resource and offer professional mentorship to the chapters.”
Commenting on the grants from GeoEngineers, EWB-USA Grants Coordinator Beck Needy said, “The generosity of GeoEngineers truly does enrich what is possible for our chapters to achieve in the field, and for that we are most thankful!”
