The Tufts Community Union Judiciary (TCUJ) added an international focus to the University's array of student groups when they officially recognized Engineers Without Borders late last semester.
Engineers Without Borders (EWB) "plans out engineering projects in developing areas in the world just basically for bettering life," according to Tufts chapter president senior Sara Freeman.
Once a university group of EWB is formed, the national chapter assigns it an engineering project. The Tufts chapter includes about 35 engineering and liberal arts students.
For their initial project, the University's EWB chapter would like to send eight students on a two-week trip this summer to a rural mountain region in Tibet. While in Tibet, projects will include improving sanitation by building school latrines as well as constructing solar cookers, Freeman said.
The Tibet project has split its members into three specialized divisions: the cultural, solar cooker, and latrine groups.
The EWB liberal arts students are to help with the cultural research by developing a working knowledge of the community to avoid "taking in the technology [without] communicating," Freeman said. "[The cultural group will be] giving us a different perspective."
"[The liberal arts students will] teach [engineers] about what boundaries there will be," sophomore and EWB member Jonathan Crocker said. "We don't want to engineer something that's against [the Tibetans'] religion."
The other two divisions have been preparing to instruct natives of the region on the two specific projects - environmentally sustainable latrines and outdoor solar cookers.
According to Crocker, solar cookers are important because of the health risks inherent in traditional cooking methods. "In the mountains, [Tibetans] cook by fire indoors, which is detrimental to their health," Crocker said.
The members of the solar cooker division intend to teach the inhabitants how to create basic outdoor cookers using aluminum foil and cardboard, Crocker said.
Both Freeman and Crocker hope the engineered improvements from their future visit will help the Tibetans make long-term improvements in their lifestyle
"We don't want to think of it as solving problems they have, but improving the conditions," Crocker said. "We're not going there and doing it for them, we're working with them. That's where the sustainability comes in."
Freeman hopes to maintain EWB's involvement with the same Tibetan community for future projects. "We want to establish a partnership in this community so we don't leave them high and dry," she said. Freeman added that they also hope to expand into other areas.
The Tufts chapter of EWB is partnered with the Institute for Global Leadership, under director Sherman Teichman. Teichman also serves as EWB's faculty advisor.
"[Teichman] has a lot of insight into international policies and issues; a great resource for us," Freeman said.
The Tufts group is currently fundraising for their summer trip. Crocker said that most of the funding is projected to come from outside sources.
The TCUJ approved Engineers without Borders as an official student group on last Oct. 24, so that the group could "use Tufts resources and be on-campus," according to TCUJ member Shiva Bhashyam.
The Tufts chapter of EWB is one of many university chapters of EWB nationwide. The organization began at the University of Colorado at Boulder in April 2000.
According to Information Technology Project Coordinator Evan Thomas of EWB-USA, the primary objective of EWB is to complete smaller-scale projects for local communities that large NGOs don't have the time to complete.
"Each project we do involves students, professors and professionals to implement sustainable solutions at local levels," Thomas said.
Other university EWB chapters are active at Northeastern, Brown, and Columbia, as well as abroad in Australia and Great Britain.
