by Camilo Illanes ‘22

The engineering club’s mission at Sherwood is to explore and design different engineering challenges. They have had many projects in the past working to improve their engineering skills, including the 2020 Maryland Cargo Ship Engineering Challenge, in which they competed against other schools in the state to design the best boat for carrying cargo.

This past year they have started a new project in which they will use their skills as engineers to help better communities around the world. In this new project, they are working with an organization called Engineers Without Borders, a non-profit focusing on building a better world through engineering projects that empower communities to meet their basic human needs.

Engineers Without Borders is currently working in Compone, Peru; El Cacao, Nicaragua; Kiryabicooli, Uganda; Nakifuma, Uganda; and Suma Ahenkro, Ghana. Sherwood wants to focus on engineering projects that give these communities clean drinking water, a resource they lack.

Club president senior Aidan Sachs said the main focus of working with Engineers Without Borders is to look at foreign countries who struggle with access to fresh water. “It is vital that we work as a team in order to seek out methods that can improve the lives of those living without necessary resources,” Sachs explained.

More than 5,000 children under the age of 5 die every day from not having access to clean drinking water. To fix this devastating issue and ensure freshwater security, Engineers Without Borders has developed various solutions.

These efforts include large-scale desalination, efficient agricultural technologies, and efficient wastewater treatment technologies. The club will expand on these ideas by designing and engineering different solutions to help the organization succeed in supplying fresh water to communities in need.

“Being involved in this project makes me feel like I am making a difference to better the lives of those desperately in need,” said senior Alex Hernandez, a member of the club.

Club members are excited to work with Engineers Without Borders and believe they will use their engineering skills to help those in need.

Many of these students want to pursue engineering as a profession, and working on this meaningful project is a great experience for them.