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Alternative Power is the theme of this blog, and so what better place to write about an alternative employment option for mechanical engineers, both student and experienced, trained in energy technologies like solar, wind, geothermal, fluid power, etc., than right here.
<-- This and next image courtesy Wikipedia.
I can't claim credit for being the first here to write on this topic. CR4 engineer-blogger Tigger, back in April of 2005, blogged on the topic of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), during the time of the humanitarian disaster connected to the Indonesian Tsunami. Click here for his earlier thread.
A non-profit founded 2000 to help the developed world with their engineering needs, Engineers Without Borders was created to "...involve and train a new kind of internationally-responsible engineering student."
As Tigger mentions in his earlier thread, Doctors Without Borders, or "Médecins Sans Frontières" in the original French, founded 1971 in Geneva, Switzerland, was the organization with a similar mission that inspired Engineers Without Borders.
It was during a recent District A Leadership Meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), held at Lafayette College in Easton, PA, that this 40-something mid-career engineer came to realize how important EWB has become.
During a panel discussion of early career mechanical engineers - recent graduates and working 20-somethings - an impromptu question was posed by ASME's president-elect Amos Holt, a proud Texan, on what was currently of interest to young engineers these days: were they "Gear Heads", like many mechanical engineers of years past were, or did they have other technical interests related to mechanical engineering?
Image at right courtesy ASME.org. ->
Being someone who rarely works on his car anymore, let alone enjoys it, I found this particular question very interesting. None of the seven or so twenty-somethings raised their hands to Mr. Holt's question. However, multiple panelists did admit to participating in, and taking much satisfaction from, EWP, before taking jobs in corporate America.
Consequently, during the current economic downturn, volunteering for an EWP project seems to me to be a smart option for recent engineering graduates, downsized engineers, or otherwise under-worked engineers, who wish to continue using and refining their skills while simultaneously helping folks outside the U.S. in real need. A place to weather the storm, assuming a reduced income is something someone, especially someone with some serious student loans, can tolerate.
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineers_Without_Borders_(USA)
http://districts.asme.org/districta/
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