Nine members of Engineers Without Borders at West Virginia University have been selected to participate in a community development project in Caobete, Dominican Republic, Aug. 1-8, 2015.

“The program provides our engineering students with the opportunity to engage in international community development projects, which broaden their horizons,” said Lian-Shin Lin, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and faculty advisor to Engineers Without Borders.

Students were selected based on their previous participation in EWB service projects and events, leadership and group work skills and aptitude for the tasks involved with the trip. The selected students are sophomores Rebecca Cokeley (mechanical engineering, Harrisville), Elizabeth Dang (industrial engineering, Morgantown), Michael Fouts (chemical engineering, Bridgeport), Katherine Warner (electrical engineering, Morgantown), Josh Watson (industrial engineering, Morgantown) and Brian Donnelly (chemical engineering, Morgantown). Also selected were juniors Ryan Butler (civil engineering, Huntingtown, Maryland), Sean Cottrill (civil engineering, Parkersburg) and freshman Ahmed Haque (chemical engineering, Morgantown).

EWB will cooperate with Penn State University at Harrisburg’s EWB chapter to build water filtration systems for the poverty stricken communities in Caobete. The systems help curb disease and virus outbreaks by draining out particles and pathogens.

“By participating in the planning and implementation of real world projects and applying what they learned in the classroom, students become a catalyst for broader impact,” said Lin. “Working with communities in poverty is a life-changing experience and makes our students better engineers.”

-WVU-

bmd/12/19/14

CONTACT: Mary C. Dillon, Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources
304.293.4086, Mary.Dillon@mail.wvu.edu

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