Official Blog of EWB-USA CCNY

Engineers Without Borders-USA City College of New York Student Chapter is a non-profit organization that partners with developing communities worldwide to design and implement sustainable engineering projects. Based in New York City, EWB-CCNY allows students from multiple disciplines to come together for one purpose: to make an impact on the lives of people across the globe. Join us in our journey.

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New Member Induction | Tuesday | 11.24.15

On Tuesday, November 24, there was a short, yet momentous meeting in the EWB office. New members have been introduced to new forms of communication between each other. They have been welcomed into the exciting EWB-CCNY community.

It was off to a great start! First, everyone celebrated Kristy Calungsod's birthday. Kristy is the secretary of the club. The members gave her a delicious double chocolate fudge cake, and everyone got to have a piece. Happy birthday, Kristy!

After this, new members have been weaved into the fabric of the Engineers Without Borders club. They got to see their new slack and EWB email accounts. Slack is an online page that the members of the club use to communicate with one another on club activities and informal conversations. Their EWB email not only will let them use that email for communication, but it also gives them access to the EWB drive that houses documents such as meeting minutes, fliers, and information on projects. This is also a place where documents can be shared with the rest of the active members of the EWB-CCNY community. Just like the experienced members who use slack and EWB email to communicate, they can now actively participate in the club from wherever they are, rather than just coming to meetings. These members are Ariana Stefanidis, Christian Paultre, Izabel Zayas, Jan Pazhayampallil, Saad Ahmed, Sajid Subtain, Swathi Mettela and Zoe Filopoulos. This is an important step in improving relations and starting friendships with the members in the club. Good luck to you, new members!

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International Project Meeting | Thursday | 10.22.15

We had a meeting, on October 22 from 12:30 to 2 to discuss potential international projects and to give new members a sense of what goes on in the club. The meeting started out with a presentation in which Ashita, our international project leader, explained the objectives of our club to motivate everyone to get involved. After that, Jillian, Rodrigo, and Jian, members of the project committee, described the importance of researching international projects. They reminded us that we should be aware of the resources in the communities, as well as the safety of the country and how far it is from us. City College will not let our club go to countries with travel advisories, and our budget will not enable us to travel very far to complete engineering projects. Furthermore, they explained that we should always get to know the members of the community before starting our project. That will make us aware of who to contact and who we can trust in the community.

After the presentation, Tala, Kevin, and Kseniya described the functions of the public relations and finance committees, so that the new members could figure out which team to join. They are the event manager, a member of the finance committee, and the leader of the finance committee, respectively. Then, everyone split into the two teams: finance and public relations. Those of us on the public relations committee discussed the Halloween bake sale coming up on October 29th. We also discussed other ways of reaching out to  people, such as posting more content on social media. Those of us who were on the finance committee discussed ways of improving funding and raising money through new methods. As engineers, we were thinking outside the box, considering several unconventional solutions. Keep an eye out for new things going on!

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Project Committee Meeting | Thursday | 2.19.2015

Last Thursday our Project Committee held its first team meeting of the semester. It featured presentations by our President, Zineb Bouizy; Project Manager, Frank Poma; and the head of our new International Project Research Team, Ashita Patel.

Since the key to this meeting was relaying the information that we got from Prof. Pilla during our meeting with him two weeks ago, Frank discussed the recent progression of our South Dakota project. As we begin this semester, there are many new opportunities for our members to get involved in the early stages of the community center’s development. In order for this project to be a success, we need a strong and dedicated design team.  To facilitate this, we will be partnering with the School of Architecture to hold seminars for anyone who wishes to learn the architectural design software Revit.

Next Thursday, our team will be going back to meet with DR PILLA in order to get a better idea of the tasks that we need to complete during the pre-design phase. Until then, Frank, Zineb, and Darlenis would like to meet with anyone who is interested in the South Dakota project individually to discuss how they would like to contribute to it throughout its duration.

Meanwhile, Ashita has been working with Jian and Rodrigo to reach out to potential leads for a new international project to adopt. At the meeting she introduced the new International Project Research committee for anyone interested in working with her to find a potential environmental project outside of the United States. Since this is the first time in EWB-CCNY history that we have looked to take on more than one project at a time, this is a great opportunity for anyone looking to get more involved with EWB. If you are interested, you may reach out to Ashita, Jian, or Rodrigo.

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Nadia Makara

Nadia Makara is a recent graduate of the City College of New York where she majored in Environmental Engineering. She's been in EWB-USA CCNY for over four years. Her first position was Fundraising Coordinator and eventually moved onto becoming Secretary and President. She currently serves as Student Advisor of the organization as well as President-Emeritus.

Why did I first join EWB?

I joined EWB in my freshman year of college because I was passionate about making a positive change in the world. Coming from an immigrant family and having the opportunity to see the country from which they came, it allowed me to see the basic needs that many people in this world lacked. I wanted to do something about it and I felt that EWB could help me achieve this. I also liked the idea of getting the opportunity to apply yhe theories I learned in class to real-world situations during my undergraduate studies.

What experiences are most memorable for you in EWB?

During my years in EWB, I saw the club undergo a lot of change. As a young organization, sustainable structure was a big issue; our activities mirrored that of a group project rather than a nonprofit organization. After the failure of one of our projects, club morale was extremely low and our membership was dwindling; EWB became extremely disfunctional. As I moved into the role of president, I realized that I had to restructure the club to make it more organized, efficient, and sustainable. I modeled the club structure after that of a nonprofit organization and, with the help of my E-board, we accomplished great things and laid the foundation for future generations of EWB-USA CCNY to ensure continued success and growth.

Why are you excited to go to South Dakota with EWB-USA CCNY?

I'm excited for this trip because it is beyond gratifying that we finally have a project after 2 years. We have worked extremely hard for the past few years to strengthen the club and we have started projects only to see them halted due to issues beyond our control, such as country politics and violence. Although project failure is quite common in engineering, it was still difficult to accept the failure and stay positive. It's great to see how things are finally coming together for the club in the project aspect.

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Frank Poma

What inspired you to join Engineers Without Borders?

I joined Engineers Without Borders because I really liked the concept of using the engineering knowledge we gain in our studies to help others who are not as fortunate ourselves. However, when I first joined, I had no idea that Engineers Without Borders would give me the greatest opportunity as an undergraduate engineering student, and would play a very important role in the development of my career and professional development.

What kinds of professional development opportunities have you had working on this project?

Imagine sitting down at a table with licensed engineers and analyzing site survey data in order to design the foundation of a 10,000 sqft building...Or leading conference calls with a project architect and a land developer to discuss the usage of hay bales—a sustainable insulation alternative—in the design of a community center. These are real experiences, and work like this is nothing out of the ordinary for anyone on our project team.

As students who are relatively inexperienced with this magnitude of engineering work, how are you able to make this project happen?

As a student organization, being on the design team for the construction of a structure like this is a massive and intimidating task. While we depend on the skills and abilities of our members to get the job done, we have had the privilege of establishing a partnership with D.R. PILLA Inc., who provide invaluable mentorship and guidance as they work on this project with us. If you’re a high-caliber student who doesn’t wish to wait until after college to work on a professional construction engineering project, then get involved with Engineers Without Borders today!

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Darlenis Ventura

What inspired you to join Engineers Without Borders?

I am from Dominican Republic, and I was enrolled in a Catholic school where the nuns taught everyone the importance of assisting others that have fewer amenities. We held different volunteering events, such as food drives and designing baby layettes for poor mothers that have recently given birth. Since I have received plenty from life, I want to show my gratitude by assisting others in need. When I transferred to City College, I heard about Engineers Without Borders as a club where you have the opportunity to travel and help people around the world. Not only am I able to learn about other cultures, but I'm also able to acquire experience that is related to my major. In the end, my main inspiration is helping others.

What are you looking forward to for this trip?

Since it is the first EWB assessment trip that I am participating in, I want to obtain as much information as possible to assist the Native Americans in the reservation. Afterwards, I will share all that I have learned and experienced with the rest of the club members who were unable to travel.

What are you expecting to experience as far as the reservation goes?

I would like to see how different communities live, and I seek to gain knowledge that will one day help the different communities of my native country. I have always visualized the entire United States as a powerful country. Because I am highly unaware of the conditions, I am curious at how Native Americans live in the reservations.

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Jillian Panagakos

What inspired you to join Engineers Without Borders?

I found out about Engineers Without Borders - CCNY before I decided whether I would be attending City College and it was easily one of the aspects of the school that I was most looking forward to getting involved with this semester. More than anything else, I am passionate about helping others and making a positive difference in peoples’ lives. EWB gives each of us the opportunity to do just that on a scale beyond anything I could have imagined to find during my time in college. Meeting a group of like-minded people to work with who all share that same dedication to giving back was just a bonus for me.  

What are you looking forward to for this trip?

Seeing as I have never before explored the United States beyond the East Coast, I’m excited to see a different part of the world and immerse myself in a community completely different from my own. I can’t wait to meet the people who will be impacted by the work we complete with them and gain a deeper understanding of their culture and way of living. 

What are you expecting to experience as far as the reservation goes?

Although I have a very limited knowledge of what life on the Rosebud Reservation may be like, I can imagine that it is not much at all like the one I know. I am really expecting to see a lifestyle that is the exact antithesis of that in New York. Most importantly, I am looking forward to visiting the reservation with an open mind to new experiences and an eagerness to learn more about a community which I don’t know much about yet. 

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Alexander Swyst

What inspired you to join Engineers Without Borders?

When I was a freshman at CCNY I saw EWB-USA CCNY as a club with a great cause, but at the same time it was pretty dysfunctional—and far from being a well-oiled machine.  But I saw the club as a chance to become directly involved in something I was (and still am) extremely interested in:  effecting social change through the application of science and engineering.  And while we haven't had much of a chance to actually effect change yet because of numerous misfortunes relating to the U.S. State Dept.'s travel warnings (see here), we have had the chance to improve ourselves and ready ourselves for that—and I'm glad to have been part of that transition.

What are you looking forward to for this trip?

I have to say I'm most excited for the fact that this will be our first project trip since 2012; though we've been working very hard the last two years, it's always refreshing to see something tangible and this trip is kind of a manifestation of the work that members have been putting in for a while. Besides that though, I'd have to say I'm most looking forward to collecting a lot of photos and videos that we can use in the future to promote the project and kind of document our work.

  What are you expecting to experience as far as the reservation goes?

I'm honestly not sure; I've put some thought into it, but I don't really have any basis for my expectations.  I've heard the good and the bad about life on reservations, but I want to avoid forming any preconceived notions before I actually experience it myself.  I especially haven't travelled much of anywhere besides the East Coast, so I really have no experience with what life is like in the Midwest nor especially in Indian Country.

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Welcome.

What better way to celebrate the new year than with a new blog! To celebrate our launch, we will be counting down to our first assessment trip to South Dakota. In the next five days, we will be introducing each member of our travel team. Throughout their time in the Rosebud Sioux Reservation, we will also be featuring daily blog posts to share their experiences. We invite you to continue supporting our team in their travels by following our blog. 

To learn more about our project in SD, please visit our website.