Engineers without borders

EWB’s General Focus 

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is a program dedicated to helping communities around the world in need. The Virginia Tech chapter, specifically, is partnered with three different countries: Uganda, Kenya, and Nicaragua. Each project is designed to create a lasting impact on the community so that the citizens have a strong foundation to thrive for generations. 

Past Projects 

For 13 years, the Uganda Project at Virginia Tech has been supplying rural communities throughout the nation with electricity by installing small-scale solar energy panels. Five students who are members of the Uganda Project got the opportunity to visit St. Michael Primary School in rural Uganda in August 2019. The group collectively worked hand-in-hand with the surrounding community to install a 10-panel solar system and supply electricity to a computer lab and campus lights. EWB Uganda is now currently working on the Kshek Water Project to provide clean and unturbid water for the Kshek Jr. School. 

Leaders in Action 

Dan Kaighn, senior in Mechanical Engineering, EWB Vice President, and Co-lead for the Uganda Project, is a prime example of a dedicated leader in EWB. When asked how his major helped contribute to his understanding of building water wells in Uganda, Dan said that Mechanical Engineering has given him the grounds of education for such research and project development. 

“My specific major has helped me out with the mechanical side of the project, as well as the project structure itself. The goal of our project is to provide clean water so in our different solution options, we decided between a water filtration system and a water well. Mechanical Engineering has taught me to look at the broad problem and explore multiple different solution options. I learned to look at the pros and cons of each solution and decide which is the best solution for our project. For us, the best solution was to implement a new water well. Mechanical Engineering also taught me how to design the mechanical systems, such as the pumps, pipe sizes, tank sizes, and tap amounts.” 

Looking Ahead 

When asked about his vision for the future of this club, Dan hopes to expand each of the three projects to have solid numbers. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many leaders were lost and the teams’ retention were hurt severely. This has led to a decreased effectiveness of club meetings because of having to navigate certain challenges. Dan hopes to have repeatable projects as well, so that there can be more smoothly running travel experiences for the students to participate in. 

Dan is also keeping tabs on this club’s current biggest challenge, and how he plans 

to address it. 

Uganda team

“The club’s biggest challenge is funding. Each team has to spend around $10,000 on the low end for a project implementation, which is a huge cost. Each project also has a fee that is around $750 per year. The team’s sole source of income is through grants, donations, and fundraisers that the club put on throughout the year. Throughout my time in the club, we have been spending more money than we have been raising, which will eventually lead to the club being in the negative. We plan to address this by having a larger focus on fundraising events so that we can afford the projects we are working on.” 

Traveling Overseas 

Dan even had the chance to visit Uganda this past winter to help see EWB’s project through. 

“My past trip to Uganda was awesome. It was really the first time I got to see the impact that my work can have on people. We got very involved with the community and were really able to see how the community lived! We stayed with people in the school’s community and every night for dinner, we ate at a different member’s house. It was a great way of getting to see how everyone lived, and we got to talk to all the different members of the community. We also had some unique cultural experiences that I haven’t had anywhere else. On the way to the project site our driver got us sugar cane from the road which was very new to me. We also ate some other new foods such as goat intestines, chicken stomach, and liver, things I haven’t eaten anywhere else. Working in the community was awesome as well, during downtimes while working, we would hang out with the school children and play games such as soccer or have running races.” 

Empowering Communities 

The Engineers Without Borders Uganda Project has seen many successes in past years, and is on track to help make more life lasting impacts. This team, with the passion and determination coming from like-minded students and leaders such as Dan Kaighn help drive the club forward, ensuring that their work will continue to help underdeveloped communities for years to come.