Feel Good Friday - Engineers Without Borders USA

Odds are you've heard about Doctors Without Borders but did you know there's also an Engineers Without Borders USA? Well it's Feel Good Friday so you're about to learn.

The mission of Engineers Without Borders USA is stated on their website, "EBW-USA builds a better world through engineering projects that empower communities to meet their basic human needs and equip leaders to solve the world's most pressing challenges." You can see a quick video summary of their work here.

Founded in 2002 by Dr. Bernard Amadei after he took 14 of his civil engineering students to Belize to construct a clean water system, EWB-USA is now operating in 46 countries working on 698 infrastructure projects. Volunteers in the 275 EWB-USA chapters partner directly with communities to meet their self-identified needs.

The International Community Program focuses technical assistance on the areas of water supply, civil works, sanitation, agriculture, energy and structures. Specific projects include building bridges, roads, biosand filters and harnessing solar power. In the communities that work with EWB-USA, 75% are able to sustain the projects once the engineers leave. That helps fulfill the organization's vision of "a world in which every community has the capacity to sustainably meet their basic human needs."

More experienced volunteers can join the Engineering Service Corps and provide engineering project support to governments, NGOs and United Nations agencies. These larger-scale programs focus on disaster relief, agriculture, infrastructure, water, sanitation and hygiene and energy. From improving hospital systems in Sierra Leone to rebuilding wells in Ethiopia, the Engineering Service Corps is focused on creative and lasting solutions.

Finally, for volunteers who want to stay closer to home, the Community Engineering Corps was created in 2014 to assist with engineering projects in both urban and rural communities across the United States.

If you are an engineer and want to volunteer with EWB-USA, you can learn more here. The rest of us can support this important work with a donation and by liking the Facebook page and following them on Twitter @EWBUSA.

Feel Good Friday - GoldieBlox

Although Beyoncé and I would like to think girls run the world, it's really not true.

Worldwide women are 50% of the population but only 13% of engineers. So is anyone doing anything about this? Yes! Feel Good Friday would like you to meet Debbie Sterling, engineer and founder of GoldieBlox, "Toys for future innovators."


You may recognize the company's name because of their legal battle over use of a Beastie Boys song in a promotional video. (This Slate article still has the original video if you missed it.)

Putting all the hullabaloo aside, the story of how Debbie created an engineering toy for girls is one of creativity and persistence. You can hear her tell it herself in this Tedx talk.

My summary: she wanted to inspire girls to be the next generation of engineers and realized that combining an engineering toy with a story  they could read was the way to do it. After having her idea rejected by a tech incubator and a toy fair, she turned to Kickstarter in 2012. Over 5,500 people contributed to the project and it received 191% of the requested funding. You go, girl!

In very recent news, GoldieBlox won an online contest sponsored by Intuit and will have a commercial in the Superbowl! Now you've got a reason to watch even though the 49ers aren't in it.

You can read more articles on the GoldieBlox about page, stay current by liking them on Facebook and if you're ready to buy a toy for that 4-9 year old girl in your life, operators are standing by.