Engineering professor Bernard Amadei could not have imagined when he founded Engineers Without Borders in 2001 the impact it would have on impoverished communities around the world, on young engineers and their peers in other fields, and on the construction industry’s expectations for a motivated and enlightened future workforce. What began as an overseas field trip for Amadei and some University of Colorado students today is a global phenomenon with 300 chapters, more than 12,000 student and professional members working on 400 needed infrastructure projects and a $3-million budget.
“There is still a large disconnect between the magnitude of the problems in our global economy and what is expected of young engineers in engineering firms,” says Amadei. “The engineering profession must revisit its mindset and adopt a new mission statement—to contribute to the building of a more sustainable, stable and equitable world.”