When Bernard Amadei saw a little girl in Belize forced to carry water rather than go to school, he used his engineering background to help her village, which had no water supply.

Engineers have to hold public welfare above all else, combining the heart and mind for the greater good, Amadei said during his lecture titled ‘Engineering for the Developing World: From Crisis to Development.’

Amadei, a civil engineering professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder and founding president of the Engineers Without Borders-USA organization, closed this semester’s University Lecture series with his talk Tuesday.

In that village in Belize, Amadei and eight students installed a pump to supply drinking water to the 250 residents with a $14,000 budget, he said. And the positive impact on the village was noticeable. Girls who were previously made to carry water were then able to attend school, he said.

Shortly after his work in Belize, Engineers Without Borders-USA was born and now includes more than 12,000 members in 225 chapters nationwide as of October 2010. Its members design environmentally sustainable engineering projects in at least 45 countries. Amadei is also a co-founder of the international Engineers Without Borders network.

Engineers Without Borders has taken part in more than 400 projects, which are chosen for completion out of a pool of applicants by professional engineers. Amadei said he considers the organization to be a small-scale, practical brand of engineering, improving countries by using appropriate and sustainable technology. He said it is not a charity organization but is more driven to teach and empower people.

‘Find out what people do and help them do it better,’ he said.

The engineers focus on practical engineering, taking into account many aspects of the culture for which they are designing. Their projects meet the countries’ simple needs, can create jobs at the local level and can enrich daily life. Amadei mentioned a project in which the organization installed a telemedicine network in Yanamono, Peru, so that the sick do not need to travel long distances for basic medical care.

Amadei spoke of his many experiences in developing countries, showing pictures of his travels and often mentioning the need for more heart in engineering. He recalled an instance in which he saw a child smile because he was given a light bulb and was able to do his homework.

A large gap remains between today’s technological advances and the needs of the world’s majority, Amadei said. Today’s technology caters to about 10 percent of the global population, often leaving the majority — sometimes literally — in the dark, without electricity, clean water, adequate sanitation or housing.

‘If I were an alien coming to this planet,’ Amadei said, ‘I’d say there’s something wrong here.’

The principal obstacle to overcome is the lack of compassion, not funds, Amadei said. America has these funds, but they have not been applied, he said. He called for a new generation of engineers as social entrepreneurs, community builders and peacemakers. Peacemaking is not a goal of their projects but is instead an outcome, he said.

‘When you look at engineering and you think of technology, you don’t think of the small things that have such a big impact,’ said Maxwell Perrin, a freshman civil engineering major.

At the end of his lecture, Amadei challenged those in attendance to write a personal mission statement including a unique gift they are willing to share with the world. He encouraged students to gain fundamental knowledge, graduate from college, leave their comfort zone and travel the world.

‘The world will change you, I can guarantee you,’ Amadei said. ‘Don’t change the world, but let the world change you.’

brvannos@syr.edu

Published on November 16, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Breanne: brvannos@syr.edu | @bre_vann