Conway Shares Engineers Without Borders Experience at Conference

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular engineering senior Matthew Conway discussed his experience bringing clean water to rural communities in the west African nation of Burkina Faso at the 2011 national meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), held in Minneapolis, Mn. October 16-21.

Conway, the leader of the Dissin, Burkina Faso Health Project for the University of Maryland's chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), was invited to the meeting by the AIChE's Societal Impact Operating Council (SIOC), which had previously awarded his team a $5000 grant to further its work designing and installing slow sand water filtration systems for public wells and medical clinics. Conway and his colleague Kelly Barb, who leads a similar project in El Salvador for the Rowan University chapter of EWB, discussed the role of chemical engineering principles in their projects, and shared their insights on the value of learning to define and incorporate sustainability in their solutions. Conway's trip was funded by SIOC.

Learn More: Visit the Dissin, Burkina Faso Health Project page at UMD's Engineers Without Borders web site »

Published November 1, 2011