One discussion between two Geotechnical Resources Inc.Ěý(GRI) colleagues – Erica Hann and Tadesse Meskele – led to an effort to improve access to engineering textbooks in Ethiopia.

“I have been doing editing here,” said Hann, a GRI production manager. “Tadesse came in one day and saw my giant bookshelf full of books that I hardly use. We realized that there are there are tons of people that have all these books they don’t use, and it’s a chance to put them to use.”

Meskele, a GRI staff engineer, saw the need for textbooks in Ethiopia firsthand when he attended school there as a youth.

“Back there, it is really hard to borrow books,” said Meskele, who has a doctorate in geotechnical engineering from Oregon State University. “You get them for an hour and then someone else gets them. The books are up-to-date; there just aren’t enough of them.”

It was not uncommon, he said, for a school to have 50 students for every textbook.

“They don’t have (many) resources,” he said. “The number of students is too high. It’s hard to buy those books.”

Hann and Meskele are working with the Ethiopian Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Network to collect textbooks to donate to libraries at Adama Science and Technology University in Adama, Ethiopia, and Addis Ababa Science and Technology University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The STEM Network includes Ethiopian engineers working in the United States and Canada. The group’s aim is to help promote science and engineering in Ethiopia though teaching.

“We are hoping to get as many books as we can,” Meskele said. “So far we have about 100 books.”

The group is collecting books that focus on general civil engineering, structural engineering, hydrology, geology, fluid mechanics, statics, dynamics and fundamentals of engineering. Most of the books so far have come from consultants and area engineers.

Books can dropped off at GRI offices, or arrangements can be made for pickup by contacting either Hann or Meskele at 503-641-3478. The group is also looking for monetary donations to help defray shipping costs.

“We are hoping to finish picking up the books from consultants (July 14),” Hann said. “We might be able to extend it if there is more interest.”

The post Engineers collecting textbooks for African students appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

When the U.S. State Department in 2015 issued a travel warning about the dangers of visiting Honduras, the small village of Guadalupe Carney stood to be hurt more than most. Members of Engineers Without Borders‘ University of Portland chapter, which was working on a project to help the village address monsoon flooding issues and increase access to safe drinking water, would not be able to visit.

That was when Engineers Without Borders’ Portland-metro professionals chapter stepped up.

“Students can’t travel to countries with travel warnings,” said Theo Malone, a mentor and a member of a team of professionals preparing to travel to Guadalupe Carney next month. “So they reached out to the professional chapter to see if we could take this project over from them.”

The village of approximately 1,000 people on the Caribbean coast annually is hit by monsoon rains that trigger floods that wash out road crossings and damage water systems. The group of professional engineers from Portland first visited Guadalupe Carney in 2015.

“Our initial assessment was to re-establish connection,” said Malone, who works as a fish screening and passage engineer for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We looked at what (University of Portland students) had done. We talked to the community (about) what they wanted done.”

In May, the group will return to perform a more thorough assessment. The most pressing issues are improved access to clean water and infrastructure to prevent floods from washing out road crossings. Since 2000, when floods have forced villagers onto more highly traveled highways, more than 20 have died.

“They are extremely impoverished,” said engineer Kyle Wolf, the project team’s leader. “There is not government looking out for these guys. They are on their own.”

The monsoon rains also damage pipes that provide water from the reservoir in the hills above the village, knocking out supply for weeks. Even at its best, the water system serves only about one-quarter of the population.

The project is being paid for through donations to Engineers Without Borders and a 5 percent match from the locals. In Guadalupe Carney, the group will face challenges seldom seen by engineers in the U.S. Just deciding which materials to use can be a challenge.

“In terms of engineering, we learn how to deal with certain constraints like availability and affordability of materials,” said Margaret Oscilia, who serves as the group’s program leader. “Here, if you ask for crushed rock or three-quarter minus (gravel), we get it. There, it is harder to get what we need for our designs.”

“In the U.S., (if) you want a 40-inch culvert, you pick it up and it is cut to the right size and it’s ready to go,” added Wolf, who is an engineer for Geotechnical Resources Inc. (GRI). “There, you have to find the materials, then have them shipped in. You have to figure out how to do it.”

Then there is the education aspect. The local officials must be taught how to maintain the system the group leaves behind.

“During the construction process, we are on the ground walking through with community members on what we are doing and why, and simplifying it as much as possible,” said Quinn Behnke, who handles the educational part of the project. “We have to provide training and actual documentation for what was built and its operation in Spanish.”

The team also must be prepared for security issues associated with flying into San Pedro Sula – Honduras’ second-largest city and one of the most dangerous in the world outside of war zones. On average, San Pedro Sula suffers three homicides each day; it also is a major hub for extortion and drug trafficking.

“My mom didn’t want me to go,” Oscilia said. “It did concern me initially.”

The group next month will arrive in San Pedro Sula, but then leave for Guadalupe Carney as quickly as possible.

“We get out right away,” said Oscilia, who is an engineer with Farallon Consulting. “We land and then take our transport for a six-hour drive to Guadalupe Carney.”

The reward for team members is being able to live with village residents temporarily and get a taste of their culture.

“It’s a chance to … see things you never get to otherwise,” Oscilia said.

The post Engineers reaching out to ‘impoverished’ people appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.