Abstract

More than 900 million people in the world don't have access to clean water. Who will solve this problem? Today's students - as engineers. The University of Delaware's Engineers Without Borders (EWB) chapter, lead by President Kelley Pyle, gave more than 10,000 high school students a real-world glimpse into the global demand for clean water during the 2010 JETS TEAMS Competition. Tied directly to the NAE Grand Challenge of providing access to clean water, Kelley's group developed ten competition questions introducing the concept of securing a clean water supply through the use of efficient gravity-fed distribution systems. Based on the EWB member's experience, they demonstrated how many villages in Africa lack local and usable water supplies. TEAMS participants were able to examine the difficulties the villagers face in acquiring their daily water needs: proximity of the closest water source and the high potential of hydrous diseases contributing to outbreaks of cholera, amoebic dysentery and even infant mortality. The ultimate goal of the EWB's TEAMS Competition questions was to raise awareness of the global water crisis and educate high school students about how they, as engineers, can develop the solution for this engineering grand challenge. The EWB chapter members also volunteered on competition day and interacted with the students by sharing their travel stories to Guatemala and Cameroon. As a mechanical engineering major, Kelley is also developing alternatives for retrofitting hand-dug wells in Cameroon. In her chapter's travels, she conducts population surveys, water analysis, and bridge design, including geotechnical assessment and concrete testing.

Submission Document

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