Presto Electro

The other day I mentioned watching a thought-provoking documentary in the media library on campus. The movie was called Flow, and it was (mostly) about the water supply in developing areas. The gist is, healthy people require healthy water. There are a lot of ways to provide this, but my personal favorite was Ashok Gadgil's ultraviolet water-sterilizing contraption.

Bacteria is extremely susceptible to ultraviolet light, so exposing incoming water to a UV light is an easy and efficient way to disinfect water. Many of the diseases common to developing countries begin with infected water supplies, so this simple contraption has made a humongous difference in the way people live. Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation is not a new concept to the modern world, but it is a revolutionary one in developing countries.

This sort of application of technology really appeals to me, so when I heard about "Engineers without Borders" I was very excited. You might have heard about "Doctors without Borders" (or "Médecins Sans Frontières" if you're from outside the states). "Doctors without Borders" is an organization that sends doctors all over the world to help developing countries with medicine, nutrition and sanitation.

"Engineers without Borders" is a newer idea. There is no official, national group (yet!), but the intentions are very similar. The University of North Texas' Engineers without Borders group met for the first time just last week, and discussed all sorts of ideas for improving the world around us. There are a lot of opportunities nearby and abroad that could use our help. If the fundraising goes well, an adventure in Mexico might be in our future!