Bernard Amadei, engineering professor at my alma mater, the University of Colorado-Boulder, was slowing down late last year to teach and write more after seven hectic years of trying to build the group he founded, Engineers Without Borders-USA. Then ENR called to tell him he was the 2009 Award of Excellence winner. But Amadei, his family, CU colleagues and industry associates were excited and gracious in allowing us to report his story and that of EWB-USA participants.
Editor-at-Large Debra K. Rubin has covered education for ENR for years and wrote about EWB-USA in the past, but she had never crossed paths with Amadei. “But the breadth and impact of his accomplishment in visioning and supporting this organization can’t be missed,” she says. Photos by Michael Goodman and videography by filmmaker Great Projects further enhance the EWB-USA story.