Students put skills to real-world uses

Last year, University of New Mexico graduate student Kent Steinhaus spent part of his summer in rural Bolivia setting up filters that would help indigenous people get clean water sources.

This year, he’s going back for more.

In July, Steinhaus and a group of students and mentors from the UNM chapter of Engineers Without Borders will trek to villages inhabited by the Tsimané people. They will be working on the Tsimané Health and Life History Project, a collaboration between UNM and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“I just thought that this project is good experience for the professional world, and also it’s a good way to spend your time, volunteering,” Steinhaus said. “It’s a good feeling to know you’re helping people with their health.”

This year will be the third that UNM has participated, said project mentor Kelly Isaacson, a consultant at Daniel B. Stephens and Associates, Inc. in Albuquerque who graduated from UNM and is active in Engineers Without Borders. The project will span a total of five years.

Isaacson has attended each year and helps coordinate the trips. Besides doing hands-on work, students also have to document their work and report to Engineers Without Borders, which gives them real-world experience.

“It’s a really great learning opportunity for students to go through that process,” Isaacson said.

Last year, the students worked in the villages of Campo Bello and Tacuaral del Mato. They held workshops on good hygiene habits and taught residents about the importance of clean water. This year, they also hope to train villagers on how to maintain the sand filters they installed.

About 8,000 Tsimané people live in dozens of villages in the Bolivian Amazon and have extremely limited access to health care and education, Isaacson said. A large percentage of people suffer from illnesses related to unclean water usage, she said.

Ryan Webb, the president of the UNM Engineers Without Borders chapter, said he will make the trip for the first time this summer.

Speaking at a fundraiser for the trip at Uptown Sports Bar and Grill this month, Webb said he was looking forward to the 18-day experience. The students have to raise between $20,000 and $23,000 for the trip, he said.

“I really want just the cultural experience and the opportunity to try and use some of the engineering skills I’ve learned in school, to try and implement (them) and help somebody,” Webb said.

Webb, who will get his master’s degree at the end of the semester and is planning to work toward a doctorate at Colorado State University, said he and his classmates will teach villagers how to build and fix their own water filters, among other outreach projects.

“I think it means a lot because I have the opportunity to go to school and get these skills, and that’s my purpose, is to use them,” Webb said.