ATC is working with Engineers Without Borders, Rutgers to design and install a new water supply for the village of Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan.
The Team:
Monal Agrawal
Hello! I am Monal Agrawal, a third year Mechanical Engineering student at Rutgers University, NJ. I am currently the project lead for EWB-Rutgers’ Guatemala project. I joined this project during freshman year of college and traveled to our community in NSCI on our first assessment trip in August 2009. That trip was a life changing experience for me. Since then, I have been working whole heartedly on making the dream of getting clean drinking water of 4000 people in NSCI a reality! I love working on the EWB projects because I am getting an incredible engineering experience that is hard to obtain from the regular classroom setting.
Brian Goodacre
Hola! My name is Brian Goodacre. I am a Computer Engineering and Computer Science major at Rutgers University. I love the challenges that engineering presents in the classroom and out of the classroom. The Guatemala Project that Engineers Without Borders – Rutgers University has been undertaking with a village in Guatemala has let me apply my engineering experiences to a real-world problem and furthermore, develop a civil engineering background while learning about the engineering process. I intend on continuing my studies into industry and graduate school.
Stephanie Jou
My name is Stephanie Jou and I am a sophomore in chemical engineering. I got involved with Engineers Without Borders at Rutgers University to find out more about engineering and to see how it could be used in real life and for a humanitarian cause. EWB has become an integral part of my college life.
Elaine Yu
Elaine Yu is a Biomedical Engineering and Statistics double major at Rutgers University. Ever since she’s been involved in the EWB-Rutgers Guatemala project, she has fallen in love with the mission of Engineers Without Borders and decided to devote as much as she could into the organization. She has just traveled with the team to Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan in August 2010 on the third assessment trip, and is currently focusing on the fundraising aspects of the project.
Madhuri Tirumandas
Hello! My name is Madhuri Tirumandas. I’m currently in my fourth year of college studying Biomedical Engineering. After my undergraduate studies, I want to attend Medical School to become a doctor. I grew up in India but I have lived in New Zealand when I was in elementary school. Regardless of where I am on the globe, I love interacting with people from different cultures, adapting to new lifestyles and experiencing the beauty of nature.
Making a difference in the world to better humanity is my passion. I pursued this through Engineers Without Borders in my second year of college and joined the water supply project for Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan (NSCI) in Guatemala. This Engineers Without Borders project has a collaboration with Appropriate Technology Collaborative (ATC). As an active project member, I’m very grateful for all the help we have received from John Barrie and ATC as a whole. I hope to someday see each person in NSCI drink clean water at any time of the day they wish to. I am very thankful to be part of Engineers Without Borders. It is a wonderful opportunity as an undergraduate student to make a difference in the lives of 4,000 people of NSCI.
• Sho Ohata
Sho Ohata graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering with a double major in Chemistry. Sho visited the community on the first assessment trip and has since then contributed to the project in many ways. Currently, Sho works for Con Edison in NYC as part of a rotational program.
Pratik Patel
I am a junior studying Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers University. Being an active member of Engineers Without Borders(EWB) has given me a truly unique experience from others who have traveled to developing countries. The most lucrative aspect of EWB is the emphasis placed on finding sustainable solutions to outstanding problems and empowering the community to help each other in the future. Our project in NSCI, Guatemala aims to provide the residents with a reliable water supply system to provide water 24 hours a day. In our third assessment trip, we conducted educational programs in the schools in which we asked the young students to draw their families and how they use water (above) and the older students questions about the system. After graduation, I hope to continue helping and advocating EWB projects for engineering students like me who want to have significant impact on the lives of others.
Namrata Kulkarni
Namrata Kulkarni is a final year student at Rutgers University, studying Biomedical Engineering. She has been a part of Engineers Without Borders-Rutgers since her first year of college and was inspired to become the Secretary of the student organization soon after. During her second and third college years she served as the Student Project Lead for the Guatemala Project, and currently she is the President of the Rutgers chapter of Engineers Without Borders. This year, she plans to help increase the funding for the projects and advance the projects by reaching out to corporations and alumni while increasing student membership and hosting successful events to create more campus awareness. Namrata also conducts research in the Biomedical Engineering department and plans to attend medical school following a year of work in the medical or biomedical industry.
• Janice Jeshke
I am a biomedical engineering student at Rutgers University with a strong passion for the environment. I want to engineer new solutions that work with the environment to support healthy beings. Sustainable solutions bridge the gap between nature and wellbeing.
Herbert Silva
My name is Herbert Silva. I was born in Cusco, Peru. I spent my childhood in Peru, the best years of my life. My Parents sacrificed their carriers as professionals in Peru to bring my sisters and I to the United States to acquire a better education and now I am a senior in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, at Rutgers University. I am a member of Engineers Without Borders and Society of Hispanic Engineers. I have done Study Abroad Programs in Spain and Mexico and traveled to other countries and I have seen poverty and wealth and the difference between them is so vast and not fair. That is why I like to help and give someone a hand and try to give them the same opportunities others have. I really enjoy working on the Guatemala Project and will continue working on projects such as this one.
