Next General Chapter Meeting:
Wednesday, January 10th
Since we meet the second Wednesday of every month, our next meeting will
be Wednesday, January 10th 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: Chapter Updates
7:30 to 8:30 pm: Breakout sessions:
- India Water System Design Team
- The El Salvador Phase III (Sanitation System) Team
- Bolivia Team
- Outreach and Fundraising Committees
- New Member Introduction
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Thank You Silver Corporate
Sponsors!
We're only one week into the new year and we already have two corporate
sponsors! Thank you Bleyl
and Associates and Fugro
Consultants, LP for your generous support of EWB-Central Houston! Your
donations will enable us to purchase materials for our projects.
For information on corporate sponsorship opportunities or to obtain a
corporate sponsorship package for your company, please contact Dave Rubin.
Something's in the Air
Professional Development Seminar
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 and Dr. Barry Lefer. 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.
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El SALVADOR
Phase I and II: Colonia Esmeralda
Great news from Colonia
Esmeralda, the community well is complete! Drilling was finished
approximately 1 month ago, leaving only electrical work and piping
connections. Thanks to members of the San Salvador Sur Rotary Club, all of
the connections were made without incident. A brand new 2 hp pump was just
installed in the well and is delivering the same water flow that the
community is accustomed to from their previous well. The previous well will
remain online in case of a contingency situation. However, since the new
well was professionally drilled and is 50 meters deeper, it is much less
likely to run dry during the dry season. Final water testing will be
completed in February to ensure that the new well matches our water quality
standards.
Phase III: Tiembla Tierra and Santa Carlota
Sanitation System: The team is currently working to obtain equipment and labor
for the city and donated materials from PVC companies. The city engineer
has committed to provide updated plans and estimates. We are still seeking
Spanish speakers and people with construction field experience. If we are
not able to find enough volunteers willing to commit time to this project,
we may have to hand it over to another EWB-USA chapter. If you are
interested in learning more and contributing, please contact John LeBlanc
BOLIVIA
The Bolivia water project is gaining momentum with three chapter members
now committed to it and several more who have expressed interest. The
project goals are to drill a well, build a tank, and install a pump to
supply water to a very poor neighborhood in the outskirts of the city of
Cochabamba. Current priorities are developing a project budget and
securing written commitments from the community members in
Cochabamba. Team members are developing a preliminary design to
incorporate more detailed topographic information as it becomes available
from city planners. Our partners in this project, the Cochabamba
Rotary club, have already committed financial support of US$1,000 and
fundraising will be a key priority in the coming months to move this
project forward. If you are interested in working on this project,
contact team leader Marcos Flores ( marcos.flores@chevron.com
); Backgrounds in water well drilling, tank construction, and pumps are
a plus.
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
1811 Lefthand Circle, Suite A-1
Longmont, CO 80501
**Please
forward this to anyone who you think might be interested. If you did not
receive this newsletter directly and would
like to, please email Sara
Beck
EWB-USA
is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organization that partners with developing
communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life, while
involving and training internationally responsible engineering students and
professionals.
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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: 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 spread the word about this great
organization! 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 – Give a workshop on a sustainable
engineering topic to teach local engineering students and professionals.
This spring, we will feature training programs on Project Management,
Public Health, and Conducting Health Surveys. Contact: Dave Rubin
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