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OIT's clean water project in Mptua, Tanzania
GeoEngineers recently announced grants to two Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA) student chapters, including the Oregon Institute of Technology and University of California Davis, which are raising funds to design and build water and sanitation systems in two rural African villages.
GeoEngineers is a major supporter of EWB-USA. The two grants, funded from GeoEngineers’ corporate contributions to EWB over a two-year period, will enable the students to travel to Mptua, Tanzania and Nkokonjeru, Uganda this year to install pumps, latrines and other water and sanitation equipment.
GeoEngineers’ Portland office Managing Associate, Chris Breemer, shared his enthusiasm for the OIT student project: “GeoEngineers is really pleased to support Portland-area engineering students in their work to improve standards of living in developing countries.” Phil Welker, Associate Engineer in GeoEngineers’ Sacramento office, expressed similar feelings about the UC Davis student project. “The UC Davis Uganda project is a great example how engineering can make a real difference in the world.”
Mackenzie Garton, a junior in the OIT civil engineering program and EWB/OIT student chapter president, said the GeoEngineers grant has made a big impact on their project: “Receiving this grant will allow us to provide the equipment and training needed to give area residents a sustainable source of clean water.”
UC Davis chapter president Dan Nover said that a large part of the chapter’s fundraising goals were unmet before it received the GeoEngineers grant. “Now, our student group is able to focus on the engineering design and implementation that is our real focus,” Nover said. “We are really excited to travel to Uganda this summer.”
For more information about the project grant and the Uganda and Tanzania projects, visit the Engineers Without Borders - USA web site.
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