Lessons from a student-led development project in Peru: Aligning technical and educational perspectives

Abstract

With the growth of student interest in humanitarian engineering development projects, a critical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of this type of work is crucial to success. While a number of models exist for joining development with technical expertise in humanitarian engineering projects, this paper focuses on the experiences of students working on a program in Peru within the Greater Austin Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB)-USA. This program is a unique EWB-USA program that builds on ongoing academic research in the Peruvian Andes at the University of Texas at Austin and regional efforts by The Mountain Institute to mitigate the effects of climate change on Peruvian communities that need technical solutions to water issues. We contrast the benefits and struggles of pursuing a student-led initiative with a regional scope. Specifically, this case study shares how the roles of partnerships between universities, private sector, government, and nongovernmental organizations create challenges and opportunities for a student-led humanitarian engineering program. The key challenges identified are (1) effectual use of U.S. team members, (2) building trust and open communication with in-country partners, and (3) understanding community dynamics and adapting projects to their local context. We present how development of a ‘non-traditional engineering classroom’ framework can serve as a proactive means for facilitating effective knowledge transfer, critical reflection, and service-learning to improve project outcomes.

Community engagement in engineering education: A systematic literature review

“…In engineering community engagement projects, the most common barriers were logistics constraints, cultural/language barriers, communication issues, and disconnects. Only a few studies were conducted from community partners' perspectives in terms of experience and feedback about the community engagement project and the community's impact on the project (Chisolm et al, 2014). Furthermore, the influence of multidisciplinary collaboration is an area that could be emphasized in future research or community engagement projects/courses.…”

“…For example, the lack of technical and administrative support was identified as the primary factor hindering technology-based collaboration (Abrahamse et al, 2015). Again, coordination, communication, and trust among participating parties are essential for a successful service-learning project (Chisolm et al, 2014). In a study on a 15-year community playground design project (CPP), the priorities of community partners (schools) were different from the project planners (e.g., schools put a higher priority on academic performance over the playground design task), which hindered project implementation (Lima, 2014).…”