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You are currently browsing the Engineers Without Borders at Boston University blog archives for March, 2012.

Mar

22

World Water Day

By ewbexec

water1Today is World Water Day! It is important to take a moment today to recognize the great need in this world for water. In countries such as the US, access to clean drinking water is not a problem. However, it can be one of the main concerns for survival in less fortunate countries. Life without easy access to water is difficult one because of the many uses it has in our everyday lives. Bathing, cooking, cleaning – water is necessary for all of these things, among many others. Hygiene and good sustenance is difficult to obtain. We depend heavily on water directly and indirectly (e.g. its use in the manufacture of many of the products we use) for many things. For more information about how we depend on water, click on the following link: http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Topics/Development/Water-Water-Hardly-Everywhere.

Access to clean drinking water is not readily available in poorer countries due to a variety of reasons, especially in rural areas. In Zambia, for example, only about 60% of the population has access to an improved water supply (http://www.nwasco.org.zm/pdfs/sectorreport2010-11.pdf). The situation is complicated by seasonal changes. While a long-term solution is needed, obviously, as a solution to this problem, there have been many simple technologies that have been implemented in the meantime in an effort to get better access to clean water, such as:

There are many available methods to help get easier access to clean drinking water. Why, then, is it still a problem? Water is a necessity for survival; it is a very basic need. It’s a shame that even though the means to obtain clean water are available, not everyone is able to gain access. Learn more about the problem and ways you can help at: http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/.

The BU Chapter of Engineers Without Borders is looking into the possible implementation a water filtration system in Zambia this year, and we’re glad for World Water Day because it has certainly opened our eyes to the need for water in the world. Please let us know if you’d like to become involved in our project!

Mar

20

Engineering in a Greater Context

By ewbexec

zaman-new-profile-picHello everyone! Hopefully everyone has had a lovely spring break and are looking forward to the next couple of months before summer vacation.

In recent news, check out the blog posts of Professor Muhammad Zaman, advisor to our BU chapter of Engineers Without Borders, on The Huffington Post! With titles such as "Make Development Part of the Equation" and "Engineering a Healthy Tomorrow for the Poorest Billions," Zaman looks at the greater context of engineering in today's world and the impact it can have on the lives of billions in the future. It's incredible, he says, that engineering has led to such technological innovations and accomplishments already, such as "sending the man on the moon and building bridges and buildings that defy imagination." Hopefully, continued imagination and creativity and hard work on the part of global engineers can continue this trend, with the focus of using engineering to better the lives of those in the poorest countries. While in recent years engineering programs have seen a decline in the number of applicants and interested individuals, this field has enormous implications for the future.

With the world's population over 7 billion people and growing at an exponential rate (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/7-billion), efforts must be made so that the poorest regions in the world are not held back, or regress, due to a disparity in resources and innovation and education, but instead are encouraged to progress and create the foundation for a healthy and sustainable future by investing in education and innovation. It is imperative that the conditions today in the poorest countries - including a lack of proper infrastructure, inadequate health services, etc. - not set the tone for the future. As Zaman says, "gone are the days when we accepted disease, suffering and poverty as the common lot of the poor." It is no longer acceptable to simply sit back on our laurels when there are issues that can be acted upon and situations that need to be changed. It's not an option to let such suffering continue. And engineers play a big part in ensuring that this idea of growth and progress, even in the poorest of countries, come to fruition in the future. Ultimately, everyone benefits from this investment in the future. "The creation of new knowledge and new paradigms to address the global problems will inevitable lead to discovery of new, cheaper and robust design criteria that will have an impact on all societies, including ours, here in the US."

And this is something that the BU chapter of Engineers Without Borders is working on. We hope that our project in Zambia, in partnership with the Center for Global Health and Development (CGHD) and the Zambia Center for Applied Health Research and Development (ZCAHRD), will help to contribute toward alleviating the current situation with HIV test results. For more information on our project, click the following link: http://people.bu.edu/ewbexec/Projects.html.

To read Professor Zaman's blog posts, click the following link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/muhammad-h-zaman