EWB USA SB

Dragon boat races in St. Charles, IL!

Editor — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:20:32 +0000

Sue Smith is looking for dragon boat team members for the St. Charles, Illinois, Dragon Boat Races Saturday, June 11 . Our 20-member “World Dragons” crew paddles to the beat of our drummer in intense 1 1/2 minute heats. We race 2 to 3 times during the day, the rest of the time hanging out on shore with the Engineers, Rotarians, college students and friends who comprise our EWB-Rotary team. It is an all-day commitment beginning with a required team training session starting at 8am and races as long as our team qualifies. The day provides physical fun through short on-water sprints, camaraderie and a cultural introduction to China’s number one sport – dragon boat racing. Minimum age is 14, maximum weight 200 and no experience is necessary.

Please mail $36 per person for yourself and anyone else who plans on coming with you to paddle. Send the check(s) asap to:

Sue Smith

1501 Greenleaf #2

Evanston, IL 60202

Make your check payable to Mississippi River Adventures, Inc. (It’s a 501 c3 organization) The $36 includes registration, training, minimum 2 races, team t-shirt and 8:00am snacks. Lunch plans will be worked out later. Checks are due by May 12 for the St. Charles races to guarantee a seat on our dragon boat team. Google: Pride of the Fox St. Charles for festival information.

Please email or call soon if you have any questions.

Sue 847 864 2481 suesmithbak@gmail.com

On Saturday, August 6 you are also invited to paddle on our World Dragons team in Niles, Michigan. Contact Sue for more information, or check back here in a few weeks for details!

Canchias, Honduras – Agricultural Bridge Update

Editor — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:56:53 +0000

The project team involved with the Canchias, Honduras bridge is in the midst of the “phase 2″ implementation trips. The bridge is scheduled for completion in early May and the project crew has been on-site for almost six straight weeks. Please see below for two journals, which briefly summarize the team’s progress to date…

Journal 1

Journal 2

A new photo gallery for the Canchias project has also added to the blog and can be found towards the top of the main blog page here: ewb-usa-chicago.org/blog

Photo Journal: Canchias, Honduras Update – 1

Editor — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:41:31 +0000

March 04, 2011 | Dinner and Presentation

Editor — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 01:55:11 +0000

Please join the Chicagoland and UIC chapters of Engineers Without Borders for an evening of dinner, cocktails and conversation on Friday, March 04, 2011. All proceeds directly support 6 ongoing projects in countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, Mexica, Kenya, and Mali.

We’re very excited about the event as our guest speaker is Professor Bernard Amadei, the founder of EWB. Those who have attended his presentations say that no one is left uninspired by his words. ENR honored Professor Amadei as the winner of the Award of Excellence in 2009.

In addition to our honored speaker, there will be a raffle, silent auction and live auction. There will be a cash bar and plenty of opportunities to mingle.

Please join us for dinner and a thought-provoking presentation. Tickets are $75 for professionals and $30 for students.

Click here to download the invitation.

What Does A Differential Do?

Editor — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 12:59:11 +0000

A differential gear allows an automobiles inside and outside wheels to rotate asynchronously when turning – In contrast, four-wheel drive “locks” a differential gear, in order to provide equal power to all wheels and continuous torque.

Check out the video below to see a simple explanation of a complicated problem – What other complex engineering problems can be explained in this manner? (Note: The first 120 seconds are a bit gratuitous…)

(Source: YouTube)

Give a New Kind of Gift | Help Build A Bridge

Editor — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:14:57 +0000

Engineers Without Borders needs your help to build a bridge to give Canchias, Honduras – access to farmland and fresh food.

Working with the needs of residents in Canchias, Honduras – EWB engineers designed a bridge across the flash-flood prone “Yure” river to accomodate vehicles, empowering the community with new business and agricultural opportunities, and even allowing milk and fesh tilapia to reach and enrich student lunches.

Part of the bridge, a nine (9) cell culvert design, was built this year. A spring-2011 trip is planned to complete the implementation, meaning that time is running out to raise funds for the raw materials (rebar, aggregate, sand, cement…) necessary.

So…we need your help!

How Can You Help?

$10

What your pledge will purchase: one bag of cement and two pounds of steel reinforcement.

What you get in return: e-newsletter with exclusive updates from the field.

$25

What your pledge will purchase: five yards of clean sand.

What you get in return: e-newsletter plus a postcard sent from the implementation trip.

$50

What your pledge will purchase: one yard of coarse aggregate.

What you get in return: all of the above plus a commemorative calendar.

$100

What your pledge will purchase: five bags of cement, ten pounds of steel reinforcement and one yard of coarse aggregate.

What you get in return: all of the above plus a purchased craft from the Canchias artisan community.

TO DONATE:

Please visit the project website @ ewbcanchias.org and contribute at any level to the Holiday Bridge Campaign!

Changing Education Paradigms

Editor — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:53:39 +0000

Check out the link here – to learn more about the flaws in our current education system. The author asks – “How do we make change happen in education? & How do we make it last?”

(Source: RSA)

Bagging Incentives

Editor — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:12:23 +0000

Check out the full article for a more in depth discussion – here…

Want a plastic or paper sack to schlep home your stuff? That will set you back 5 cents a pop. The money goes not to the retailer but to the District and more particularly to a fund to clean up the Anacostia River. So what do you think happened?

(Source: The Operations Room)

How To Feed The World?

Editor — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:42:10 +0000

Check out the link here – the narrative was developed for the “Bon Appetit” exhibiton. The authors, Sabrina Massen & Denis van Waerebeke, bring up some interesting points on food distribution and economics across the globe…

(Source: Vimeo)

Photo Journal: Canchias, Honduras #1

Editor — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 04:18:10 +0000

Check out a photo journal from the most recent trip to Canchias, Honduras – to construct a 100 ft. re-enforced concrete bridge, which provides access to a dairy farm for the local communities.