Happy Holidays
from EWB-Central Houston!
Dear Friends and Supporters of EWB-Central Houston,
As 2006 comes to a close, I'd like to thank all of you for your
involvement in Engineers Without Borders-USA. The more I work with this
organization, the more I realize how incredibly important it is. The amount
of poverty around the world is overwhelming, and opportunities for us to
make a difference are too few. EWB-USA enables each one of us to be a
pebble in the lake as we continue to impact dozens of people, reaching
multiple specs of our globe. Not only are these projects important,
they are possible.
I am personally thankful for everything you do for our ever-expanding
organization. Although heading up this chapter can be daunting and
frustrating at times, it's the most rewarding thing I've ever done. Working
with so many others who are motivated to make a difference is inspiring. I
understand the sacrifices you make. I know that many of you have given up
hours of TV and many Friday nights at the bar in order to solve equations,
prepare presentations, or write grant proposals. I know you've used your own
vacation time to wire solar panels or pour concrete instead of laying on a
beach in Hawaii.
I also know - as you know- that your work is all so worth it.
As you celebrate the holidays, please don't forget about the people like
those in the communities we're working with who lack clean water, suffer
from health problems that never cross our minds, or live without the basic
infrastructure we take for granted.
EWB-Central Houston has become exactly
what we envisioned a year and a half ago; I look forward to seeing our
progress over 2007.
Thank you for giving a damn!
Have a Great New Year!
Sara Beck
Chapter President
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Next
General Chapter Meeting:
Wednesday,
December 13th
As the EWB-USA Central Houston Chapter meets the second Wednesday of every
month, our next meeting will be Wednesday, December 13th at
7:00pm at Rice
University in Room 253 of the Mechanical Engineering
Laboratory, which is Building 46 on the map.
Agenda:
7:00 to 7:30 pm: Brian Davis and Jose Moreira will
present on their trip to Colonia Esmeralda for the water supply and
retaining wall projects last month.
7:30 to 7:45 pm: Chapter Updates
7:45 to 8:30 pm: Breakout sessions:
· The India Water System Design Team will give members a
summary of our proposed water supply system for the planned SRPP
Housing project and we will also discuss ideas for a team gathering
on Dec. 17th for food and drinks!
- The El Salvador Phase III (Sanitation System) Team will meet to
discuss recent action items related to the existing design as well as
involvement from the local municipality and PVC companies.
Elections
Postponed
The election for Executive Board members for 2007 will be postponed
until early 2007. If you are interested in participating on the Board and
making key decisions that affect the chapter, please contact Sara Beck.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR: January 25th
Our next Professional Development Seminar will focus on
Air Quality. The seminar will be held on January 25th from 6:30-8:30
pm featuring Dr. Rudy Smaling. If you'd like to register for
the event ($ 20 for EWB -USA
members, $ 30 for non-members, 2 PDHs) please send an email to Alex Cuclis and state whether you are a
member.
STUDENT MENTORING TRIP: December '06
Guo-Pin Fuan, PE, will be traveling to Nicaragua
for one week in late December '06 with the EWB-Rice Nicaragua 1 student
group. On this trip, they plan to implement a solar lighting
system for the church building in the community of El Panama, on the outskirts of the town of Jinotepe. The
trip will also continue with further assessment of the site for eventual
design and construction of a pedestrian bridge to serve this community and
the neighboring villages.
RUN FOR WATER: February 18th, 07
Support your fellow volunteers as they run to raise money
for our projects. Sara Beck will run the Austin Marathon for our El
Salvador Well project. http://www.firstgiving.com/sbeck
The 2007 EWB-USA International Conference
is scheduled for April 12, 13 & 14, 2007, to be held at the University of Massachusetts
in Amherst, MA.
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El SALVADOR
Phase I
and II: Colonia Esmeralda
Well drilling is currently scheduled for the month of
December. The community has leveled and cleared the drilling site and moved
power lines from the area to accommodate the drilling crew. The drilling
should commence this week. Wall construction will begin shortly afterward.
Phase III:
Tiembla Tierra and Santa Carlota
Sanitation System: The team is working to convince the
city to contribute more labor and equipment. We are also looking at
optimizing the design. To accomplish this project, we need civil engineers,
people with construction experience, engineers who speak Spanish (to
interact with local politicians) and anybody else interested! We met last
Sunday, will meet in a separate breakout session after the general meeting
and will meet again outside of the the monthly meeting. If you are
interested in learning more about this project and contributing, please
contact John LeBlanc.
POTENTIAL BOLIVIA
PROJECT
One of our members recently submitted a project application to EWB-USA
for a water project in Bolivia
that will benefit approximately 3,000 residents in Cochabamba. The project involves drilling
a well at the bottom of a hill and installing a pump and water distribution
system to fill a tank at the top of a hill. As our chapter participation
continues to grow, we are looking forward to working on a third project. We
are considering applying for the Bolivia project and would like
to know how many people in our chapter are willing to volunteer on it. If
you are interested in getting involved, please contact Marcos Flores. Experience
in well drilling and water tank construction are preferred, but not
required.
DONATE!
Like all EWB projects, our projects are completely financed by donations.
All donations are tax deductible. You may contribute mail or use the
internet at your convenience.
To donate by internet, go here..
To donate by check or money order:
Address to EWB-USA, but write “Central
Houston Professionals” in the memo field. Send your
donation to:
Engineers without Borders – USA
1880 Industrial Circle,
Suite B-3
Longmont, Colorado
80026
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What is
Engineers Without Borders-USA?
EWB-USA partners with developing communities to improve
their quality of life through the implementation of environmentally
sustainable, equitable, and economical engineering projects while
developing internationally responsible engineers and engineering students.
Get Involved!
The Central Houston
chapter of Engineers Without Borders was founded in February, 2005 and
continues to grow rapidly.
We are consistently seeking more members to help with our
engineering projects as well as the administrative work that makes them
possible. If you would like to join our team, please let us know.
There are plenty of ways to get involved!
Fundraising Committee: Since none of us
are independently wealthy, fundraising remains a critical part of our
projects. We have 6 fundraising programs underway and need as much help as
possible to make these succeed. Fundraising Committee Contact: Shalin Mody
Outreach Committee: In order to get more
talented people involved in our organization, we regularly present on our
work. Help us tell people how wonderful we are! Contact: Dave Rubin
Project Engineering – Volunteer as a
project engineer on our current projects. A listing of engineering needs
can be found here.
Technical Reviewer – If you're too busy
for project engineering, but have enough expertise to review other people's
work, let us know. We're starting to form the South Central Technical
Advisory Committee and need more experts. Contact Sara Beck
Sponsorship – Want to make your company
look great and support a community on the other side of the world in the
process? Contact Sara Beck
about corporate sponsorship opportunities.
Professional Development Seminars – Want
to earn continuing education credit you need while giving money to a worthy
cause? Attend our seminars! These are designed to help Professional
Engineers obtain required professional development hours. Contact: Alex Cuclis
Workshops and Training Programs – Are
you an expert or a know-it-all? Give a workshop on a sustainable
engineering topic to teach local engineering students and professionals.
Contact: Dave Rubin
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