Student Highlight
This newsletter we’re highlighting… our new project leads!
Mihir Madhaparia
Our new Ethiopia project lead is Mihir Madhaparia (he/him)! Mehir is a second-year student in Mechanical Engineering and is looking forward to working with EWB and our project partners to better the lives of others while gaining invaluable engineering experience. He has been working with our Toke task force group to progress further in our current project with them, in addition to our new community group to help research and identify a future community to partner with.
Alexander Hawkins
Our new Local Collab project lead is Alexander Hawkins (he/him)! Alex is a second-year student Electrical Engineering and is looking forward to continue the growth of the Local Collab team and projects. In his first year, Alex was a member of the greenhouse subgroup for the UFGA peace garden, and joined the Local Collab team at the beginning of this past summer, taking on the role of student project lead for their project with the Division of Indian Work (DIW). His favorite part of EWB is working with a group of individuals who share the same passion for using their skills to create the change they wish to see in the world.
Lucas Nielsen
Our new Guatemala project lead is Lucas Nielsen (he/him)! Lucas is a first-year student in Chemical Engineering and is looking forward to seeing and guiding their new project in Chi Chokon from an idea to implementation. He has loved the fun environment of EWB thus far, and the collaborative and supportive environment provided from current and prior EWB members. Prior to his position as a project lead, he was a part of the pipelines subgroup, and he is excited to meet and develop connections with the community members this May.
Mentor Highlight
Jeff Stewart
Jeff Stewart is a licensed civil engineer and has been one of the Guatemala mentors since 2018. On March 20, 2022, Jeff and Ann Johnson Stewart taught surveying to the Guatemala travel team. These skills will be invaluable to the travel team when gathering data on the assessment trip Chi Chokon. In addition to his involvement with the Guatemala Program, Jeff contributes his time to the Victoria Garden Project. He recently brought his valuable feedback to the Independent Review Board to help our team refine designs. Thank you so much for your time helping us gain these skills for our project and careers!
Alumni Highlight
Brian Bell
Brian Bell was our chapter’s President from 2007-2008 during the initial years of the chapter’s formation. He was actively involved in both the Haiti and Uganda projects. EWB sparked Brian’s passion for social entrepreneurship and project management; Brian is now a senior program manager at Flexport. EWB taught Brian management skills such as leveraging the skillsets of members and managing stakeholders. When looking for a job after graduation, Brian advises students to consider what skillsets the job would develop and the career path the job would lead to in the long term. He also encourages students to not constrain themselves to their field of study and to explore other directions early on in their careers.
We are grateful for his contributions to EWB!
Donor Highlight
Craig and Janice Ebeling
The Ebelings have been very kind supporters of EWB for a while and became involved with our group as alumni of the University of Minnesota looking to stay connected! Their support stems from the alignment of both their and EWB’s values when it comes to making a positive impact in the world. From the time they were introduced to EWB they had a dream to facilitate a partnership between EWB and the Burnsville Rotary, as members of the organization. This dream has been realized in recent years as Burnsville Rotary endorsed us in the process to be awarded the Rotary District Grant that was used to fund the Chirijuyu Project of the Guatemala Program! We are grateful for their involvement and the positive influence they have had on the evolution of our projects!