THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2015 PAGE 7
Engineers Without Borders
is a worldwide collection of
14,700 students representing
39 countries who use their
knowledge of science and
mathematics to improve the lives
of millions of people around the
world.
As a top-tier engineering
school, the University of
Rochester has its own chapter
within Engineers Without
Borders.
e UR team is comprised of
35 members who hail from many
dierent disciplines, ranging
from engineering to psychology,
to violin performance to lm.
ey meet weekly on Tuesdays
at 8:00 p.m. to try to tackle the
next steps for the program and
for our member development,
including planning workshops
and events, documenting and
planning the current step of the
project and securing funds for
our endeavors, according to
Guest athletes play during halftime at womens basketball game
is past Spirit Week,
UR came out on top with
electrifying victories against
NYU from both the Men and
Womens Basketball teams.
eir victories were inspired
by their supporters, covered
in face paint and spirit
merchandise.
During halftime of the
Womens game, free t-shirts
were ung into the crowd
while a group of girls came
onto the court to play.
ese girls are members
of a fourth grade team from
Peneld Youth Basketball.
is youth league based
in Peneld, a suburb of
Rochester, aims to develop the
skills of youth in the local town
by conducting clinics, training
sessions and competitive league
games. e teams consist of
girls ranging from third grade
junior Christian Freitas, former
President and current Vice
President.
e program aims to build
a relationship between what
students learn in lectures and
how to apply those skills to
improve communities around
the world that perhaps do not
have the capabilities or resources
to do so.
Beyond engineering, the
program teaches students
to manage their budget,
deposit checks and decide
on the appropriate allocation
of materials and plan for
fundraising.
rough money management
and engineering planning,
students are taught to work as a
cohesive unit in order to design
and build sustainable systems.
Since 2009, URs Engineers
Without Borders team has been
working relentlessly on multiple
projects to improve the lives of
2.5 million people around the
world.
Engineers Without Borders
conquered perhaps one of their
biggest endeavors just two weeks
ago, when they went on their
rst ever assessment tripa trip
that allows members of a specic
Engineers Without Borders
chapter to assess the economic,
social and environmental risk
factors in a community. Using
these factors, they decide what
type of sustainable design to
implement in order to solve
these problems.
ese programs must be
approved by the national
Engineers Without Borders
board, and entail a ve-year
commitment to a specic
community.
From Jan 312, the Rochester
chapter ventured to Escuela
Taller Santa Maria Josefa
Rossello, a school in the to wn of
Don Juan, located in the Monte
Plata P rovince of the D ominican
Republic, in order to solve a
crisis of water sanitation.
e school is a public
institution of over 400 students,
ranging from pre-K to 8th grade.
Rochesters Engineers
Without Borders stepped into
the community after learning
about the schools inability to
distribute clean water to its
students, which stemmed from a
deciency of electrical durability
and water maintenance
technologies.
e students spent ten days
testing the waters sanitation and
chemical properties, bacteria
content and contamination
levels and then went to local
plumbing stores to seek out
resources that they could use to
develop sanitation systems.
e team also met with
local organizations, including
Associacin de Padres, Madres
y Amigos de la Escuela (the
Association of Fathers, Mothers
and Friends of the School),
as well as the Santo Domingo
Rotario Bella Vista Club (an
international Rotary community
service organization).
Engineers Without Borders
nally signed the ocial
program contract with
Associacin de Padres, Madres
y Amigos de la Escuela and two
non-government sponsored
organizations, Father Ron
Faesser Projects and Daughters
of Our Lady Mercy.
We are helping communities
achieve the level of life they want
by the means they see t, said
Grace Caza, one of two project
chairs for the Don Juan trip.
Its a learning process, and
just being part of that process
has motivated my desire to
study engineering and pursue
a career in community driven
development programs.
In addition to meetings with
ENGINEERS
to fth grade.
UR Womens Basketball
Head Coach Jim Scheible
was excited to have these girls
working with the University
team.
Our team did a clinic at
the Eastside YMCA on Jan. 4
and they were in attendance,
Scheible said. ey wanted to
come see the team play after we
conducted the clinic. Several
of them also come to the [UR]
camp in the summer.
What does their appearance
mean to the UR campus
community? For one, they
brought their spirit and passion
for the game of basketball to
our campus for a short period
of time.
Small gestures like this can
create an ongoing network
with the Peneld community
and the U niversity of Rochester
Athletic Department,
according to Scheible.
Coach Scheible commented,
We are excited to have local
kids at games as they bring
a lot of energy and support.
In addition, it is fun for our
players to get out into the
community to promote UR
and our team. ese are some
pretty good players for their
age and you never know if
they might want to play at UR
someday.
All told, who wouldve
imagined that a fteen-minute
appearance could have such an
impact on our campus spirit?
Moving forward, the UR
W omen s basketball team hopes
to continue to make an impact
on the Rochester community
by supporting youth programs
to help develop young girls
into athletes and to foster a
community that encourages
them to stay physically active.
Gulston is a member of
the class of 2016.
NATHANIEL POTREPKA/