Accomplished engineer to cap University Lecture series for fall semester
The co-founder and president of Engineers Without Borders in the United States will discuss rebuilding Haiti and his work on a clean water system in Belize for the last University Lecture of the semester.
Bernard Amadei will present ‘Engineering for the Developing World: From Crisis to Development’ in Hendricks Chapel at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The lecture is also part of the Syracuse Symposium series of lectures and presentations, which this semester is based on the idea of ‘Conflict: Peace and War.’
‘Dr. Amadei has worked extensively in developing countries. He was specifically asked to speak about how a country rebuilds after devastating catastrophe,’ said Esther Gray, special assistant for academic affairs.
Amadei, a professor of civil engineering at University of Colorado at Boulder, worked with students to install a sustainable, clean water system in a town in Belize in 2001. He was a co-recipient of the Heinz Foundation Award for the Environment in 2007 and won the Engineering News Record Award of Excellence in 2008. He is the faculty director of the Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities at Colorado. Amadei is currently working on his upcoming book, ‘Engineering With Soul.’
Amadei will discuss his work in Belize, but will speak mainly about what needs to be done with engineering and architecture to rebuild Haiti after the January earthquake that leveled portions of the country, Gray said.
‘Dr. Amadei’s presentation will attract mostly engineers, but also those who work in developing countries, whether with people or with the infrastructure. It all is interconnected,’ she said.
Engineers Without Borders is a nongovernmental organization that works in underdeveloped countries to improve living conditions through engineering, according to the Engineers Without Borders website. Student and professional engineers have helped build a health clinic in Peru and plan to help with infrastructure needs in Haiti. SU’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders is working on a project with an orphanage in Kenya, according to the student organization website.
‘It’ll be good to see someone who put engineering into action,’ said Caitlin White, a sophomore computer engineering major. ‘I know a ton of people in Engineers Without Borders, so I think lots of people will be going.’
Megan Stauffer, a bioengineering major and a resident adviser in Shaw Hall’s engineering learning community, said she made this lecture her hall event for this week, which she hopes will encourage her residents to attend it. She said she likes how Engineers Without Borders works in countries with limited resources, which she said makes the work more challenging and rewarding.
‘I think it sounds really interesting,’ Stauffer said. ‘I want to use engineering to help people, and that’s what Amadei has done.’
Published on November 15, 2010 at 12:00 pm
