2008 Woodie Awards
The New Face of Engineering
By David Sommer
9/17/07 - Features
A small boy makes his way across an arid plain. The sweat pours off his forehead. The gaze of the pitiless sun beats on his neck, but he walks all the same, the same way he always has, the same way he will always walk. He has treaded this path too many times to count, and, even if they could be counted, no one has taught him how. Days run together; nights crawl while he is alone. Still, the boy marches on with torn feet on a torn road because he knows nothing else.
He walks to find water, a solemn benediction, an all too short relief from the oppressive heat that never lasts. He hopes only that he can find the strength to repeat them. And so we ask ourselves why, why does such suffering exist in the world? How much we stutter with our answers then. We declare that we would never agree to be the architects of such a world. That is why we must become the architects of a better world. The path to Humanitarian Engineering begins with such a step.
The Humanitarian Engineering program gives students the opportunity to explore a different side to the practical applications of engineering. It takes ideas that are commonly conceived as "what can we do for our community?" and expands them to "what can we do for our world?" Indeed, the world becomes the student's community, and he or she learns to adapt engineering skills to the problem at hand and to the resources available. New perspective is required when an engineer must consider the fact that although there is a need for purified water, modern technology is unreachable and logistically impossible on location.
The Colorado School of Mines offers Humanitarian Engineering as a minor, and the program is growing rapidly. Established in 2003, it began with a focus on teaching engineering and cultural techniques designed to help remote and impoverished communities around the world. Students worked on project design, constructing plans down to the very detail of human need. Yet, design was not enough.
In 2004, Dr. David Munoz, the Director of the Humanitarian Engineering Program, along with a small group of students traveled into the heart of Honduras to implement their plans for building a water treatment system in the small town of Colinas de Suiza. Since then, several more projects have been developed and put into action, and with a growing number partner groups and affiliates, like Food For The Poor and Engineers for a Better World, success in improving the world is coming ever closer, not by leaps and bounds, but by methodical work and dedication.
He walks to find water, a solemn benediction, an all too short relief from the oppressive heat that never lasts. He hopes only that he can find the strength to repeat them. And so we ask ourselves why, why does such suffering exist in the world? How much we stutter with our answers then. We declare that we would never agree to be the architects of such a world. That is why we must become the architects of a better world. The path to Humanitarian Engineering begins with such a step.
The Humanitarian Engineering program gives students the opportunity to explore a different side to the practical applications of engineering. It takes ideas that are commonly conceived as "what can we do for our community?" and expands them to "what can we do for our world?" Indeed, the world becomes the student's community, and he or she learns to adapt engineering skills to the problem at hand and to the resources available. New perspective is required when an engineer must consider the fact that although there is a need for purified water, modern technology is unreachable and logistically impossible on location.
The Colorado School of Mines offers Humanitarian Engineering as a minor, and the program is growing rapidly. Established in 2003, it began with a focus on teaching engineering and cultural techniques designed to help remote and impoverished communities around the world. Students worked on project design, constructing plans down to the very detail of human need. Yet, design was not enough.
In 2004, Dr. David Munoz, the Director of the Humanitarian Engineering Program, along with a small group of students traveled into the heart of Honduras to implement their plans for building a water treatment system in the small town of Colinas de Suiza. Since then, several more projects have been developed and put into action, and with a growing number partner groups and affiliates, like Food For The Poor and Engineers for a Better World, success in improving the world is coming ever closer, not by leaps and bounds, but by methodical work and dedication.
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