Dr. Bernard Amadei, president and founder of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), will visit UConn October 15-16. Dr. Amadei — a professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Colorado and a member of the National Academy of Engineering — will discuss the groundbreaking social and humanitarian achievements possible when engineers apply their expertise to challenges across the globe.
Dr. Amadei’s presentation will take place in the Student Union Theatre at the UConn campus at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, October 16. Members of the public are invited to attend.
Dr. Amadei was invited to campus by Dean of Engineering Mun Y. Choi, who is a strong advocate for enhancing global awareness and sensitivity among engineers. The presentation is co-sponsored by the School of Engineering and the UConn chapter of Engineers Without Borders.
Dr. Amadei is the Founding President of Engineers Without Borders – USA (http://www.ewb-usa.org/) and the co-founder of the Engineers Without Borders-International network. For his efforts, he was awarded one of two 2007 Heinz Awards for the Environment, the 2008 ENR Award of Excellence, and election to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering for “the creation of Engineers Without Borders, leadership in sustainable development education, and research on geomechanics.” Dr. Amadei holds the Mortenson Endowed Chair in Global Engineering and the Faculty Director of the Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities at CU Boulder.
The mission of EWB-USA is to partner with disadvantaged communities to improve their quality of life through implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training internationally responsible engineering professionals and students.
Dr. Amadei’s awakening to the transformative social potential of engineering occurred in 2000, when he visited the village of San Pablo in Belize to examine the possibility of designing and installing a water delivery system to the village. The small, rustic village lacked electricity, running water and sanitation, and the duty of transporting water from a nearby river fell to the children while their parents toiled at a local banana plantation. The time-consuming water duties prevented the children from attending school. Stunned by the experience, Dr. Amadei recruited a team of CU engineering students and a local civil engineering expert to design and construct a water pump for the village. He went on to found Engineers Without Borders in 2002. Today, the organization has more than 12,000 members involved in projects in 45 developing countries.
For additional details of Dr. Amadei’s Friday, October 16 presentation, please contact Noreen Wall at (860) 486-5394; noreen@engr.uconn.edu.
