A group of six students in civil and environmental engineering worked with WSU’s Engineers Without Borders and Asiana Education Development (AED) to design two schools that will be re-built in the region destroyed by the December 2004 tsunami.
AED, a Seattle-based non-profit organization that runs schools for orphans in Sri Lanka, is working to re-build nine of its schools that were destroyed. When built in the next year, the schools, which will cost a total of about $100,000, will hold about 720 students and contain about two dozen classrooms.
Student Alex McDonald started the WSU chapter of Engineers Without Borders about a year ago. Hoping to find a way to be of service to the community, McDonald stumbled upon the organization, which formed in 2000 and does community-based, sustainable engineering projects around the world.
The WSU group’s initial project was the relocation design of a potable well system for a non-profit group that does work on the Yakama Indian Reservation, which they hope to construct in the near future.
After last year’s tsunami, McDonald read about efforts by AED to provide relief in Sri Lanka and to re-build their schools. In addition to providing the opportunity for education, the schools in Sri Lanka provide a safe haven from the child prostitution and kidnappings that are of constant concern in the region, McDonald said.
McDonald contacted Adam Salmon, AED’s director, and the Puget Sound professional group of Engineers Without Borders. Eventually, he brought work on the design of the two schools back to WSU, where he worked with professor Dan Dolan to make it part of two senior design projects.
The students’ projects promise to have a long-term impact on many lives of children in Sri Lanka, Dolan said. Students participating in the project are providing a service while learning about engineering in a global marketplace, which they will need after they graduate, he said.
Specifically, they have to carefully tailor their projects to their clients’ specific needs, which may be quite different from what Americans might expect.
“I want to introduce the students to an international view of how to do projects,” said Dolan. “The world is getting too small to do it our way only.”
The students were also particularly eager to help out in the tsunami relief efforts.
“I am interested in helping people,” said student Matthew Ellis. “It’s why I became an engineer in the first place.”
In their designs, the students had to overcome several challenges. The schools had to be built to withstand the regular cyclones that hit the region. The buildings had to be feasible and safe for kids, meeting design parameters for a classroom setting. At the same time, the students had to account for the different construction practices and building techniques found in Sri Lanka, Ellis said. Because of the turmoil in the region, trying to get information on just what their school site looked like was difficult, he said. One of the schools will also have a surrounding security wall because of concerns about kidnappings.
The projects have been submitted to the professional Engineers Without Borders group in Seattle for further review and then will be passed along to AED. Students working on the two projects included Ben Hoppe, Richland; Robyn Lee, Colfax; Dan Westley, Everett; John Farleigh, Juneau, Alaska; Joshua Horky, Monroe, and Ellis, Tillamook, Ore.
