Technograph Spring 2018

VOLUME 133: SPRING 2018

Monday - Friday: 10:45am - 4:30pm 911 W. Springfield Ave, Apt 1 • Urbana, IL 61801 217-344-3008 Family owned since 1969

WALK TO CLASS ONLY ONE BLOCK TO SIEBEL THREE BLOCKS TO QUAD!

We are dedicated to providing quality student housing with a personal touch. www.baileyapartments.com | leasing@baileyapartments.com

3

TECHNOSTAFF

Technograph editor Brooke Eberle Assistant Technograph editor Meral Aycicek Editor-in-Chief Lillian Barkley Managing editors Joseph Longo Jacob Singleton Creative director Hannah Auten Designers Bercham Kamber Cindy Om Toni Pantone Mariel Elopre Brian Nguyen Copy chief Rachael Bolek Assistant copy chief Pooja Deshmukh Writers Julie Kang Melissa Niemiec Zack Fishman YiFan Gu Molly Zupan Yoav Margalit Co-publishers Kit Donahue Melissa Pasco Contact (217) 337-8350 technograph@dailyillini.com 512 E. Green St., 3rd floor Champaign, IL 61820

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DROP IN FOR A TOUR!

Engineering fraternities on campus: a look inside PAGE 4, 5

Researchers craft light pulses to control cells PAGE 7, 8

Temperatures are predicted to rise, threatening health and livelihood of people across the country PAGE 10, 11, 12, 13

Trading app benefits international University students PAGE 15, 16

Futuristic approach to cancer research is a game changer PAGE 18. 19

Engineers without Borders works to have an impact on the world PAGE 21, 23

USING! O H D E V O R P P A FRESHMAN The only privately owned residence hall near: • Engineering Campus • Computer Science • Beckman Institute

e

• Carpeted rooms and semi-private bathrooms • Completely air conditioned HENDRICK HOUSE

• Weekly maid service • Great food • On-Site parking available

Green & Lincoln Urbana, IL 61801 | (217)365-8000 (217)356-3344 | www.hendrickhouse.com

4

A LOOK INSIDE ILLINOIS’ ENGINEERING FRATERNITIES

BY JULIE KANG | STAFF WRITER

oing to one of the best engineering schools in the country can be a stressful nerve-racking experience. Luckily, being part of an engineering fra ternity can help students find fellow engineers with similar interests. Members can support each other’s academic and social lives and get more opportunities in the workforce.

There are currently three engineering fraternities on campus. Sigma Phi Delta and Triangle Fraternity are members of the Interfraternity Council while Theta Tau Kappa is not. Each fraternity offers a unique experience for its members.

Jonathan Wexler, junior in Engineering and president of Sigma Phi Delta, said he was unfamiliar with how Greek life worked.

He was introduced to Sigma Phi Delta through a friend and initially attended rush events with little interest.

“I got a bid, but I didn’t really know what a bid was; I didn’t know how that whole system worked,” Wexler said. “If I were to do it again, I probably would have looked around more, but I still think I would have ended up in Sigma Phi Delta.”

One of the primary duties of a fraternity president is overseeing all the officers and making sure the organization functions smoothly. Wexler said communicating with alumni is another important role of the president.

Because there is a large alumni base and alumni own the fraternity house, the president has to act as the intermediary between alumni and students.

Networking is also a large part of engineering Greek life. President of Triangle Fraternity Vibhu Vanjari, senior in Engineering and LAS, shared that being in the fraternity gave him a large network of engineers to help him in the professional field. He got his first engineering job as a sophomore after

talking to a graduating senior in the fraternity. The part-time job in a semiconductor fabrication lab on campus led to internships and full-time offers later on. He even traveled to Dallas to work for Texas Instruments.

Vanjari said many members of Triangle have worked or are currently working for Amazon. One brother who got a job at the company relayed the information and recommended people.

“It’s like a chain reaction of networking,” Vanjari said, “Now, everyone just keeps going to Amazon.”

Other executive positions have important responsibilities as well. Kanchi Shah, junior in Engineering, said her role as one of the professional chairs of Theta Tau Kappa is to guide the fraternity through all professional events, including development workshops and career fairs. She also ensures that members have access to internship or job opportunities when needed.

Shah went on to say that the top characteristics she looks for in potential members are ambition and energy. She loves seeing passionate students who are well-rounded and easy to talk to.

Engineering fraternities also give back to local and national organizations through philanthropy events and volunteering.

Donating to the American Cancer Society and volunteering at elementary schools in the area are some of the ways the fraternities serve the community.

However, recent incidents involving Greek life both on and off campus have made fraternities more cautious. As it is a sensitive period for Greek life in general, members are working to keep their environments as safe and healthy as possible.

“I want to keep us running,” Wexler said.

“This semester, we’re doing a lot more with risk management because, as a fraternity,

“After all the stigma with fraternities, we’ve been pushing our professional side even more.”

VIBHU VANJARI TRIANGLE PRESIDENT

that is sort of what we need to work on.”

Triangle is also working to combat issues like these.

“After all the stigma with fraternities, we’ve been pushing our professional side even more,” Vanjari said.

Even with the difficulties of maintaining a positive image for fraternities, members are still facing successes in their respective fields. They are striving to achieve high GPAs, be active on campus and find high-quality jobs. The support members provide for each other helps them through the hardships.

Engineering fraternities are not only about getting jobs and attending academic events, however. Shah said the people and community of Theta Tau Kappa are some of the biggest benefits of being in the fraternity.

“It’s so nice to come home after a stressful day and see them,” Shah said. “My best friends are also my role models, and I know that no matter what situation I’m in, I know I have people I can go to.” sekang2@readtechno.com

5

LEASING FOR FALL 2018 Amenities

• W/D in every apartment • 10’ ceilings & oversized windows • Contemporary furnishings • Fitness on demand • Bicycle/scooter storage • Pet-friendly • Conveniently located next to County Market

STUDIOS, 1 BEDROOM, 2 BEDROOM, & 3 BEDROOM

URBAN-CHIC LOFT STYLE APARMENTS

AVAILABILITY

310 E. SPRINGFIELD AVE., CH. | 217.239.2310 | BURNHAM310.COM

6

7

BY MELISSA NIEMIEC|TECHNOGRAPH WRITER esearchers at the University of Illinois have found a new way to image brain cells, observe how they communicate and control their function, all by using light. Future applications of this research could combat mood disorders, sleep abnormalities and obesity.

In the Biophotonics Research Lab, researchers are using “tailored light” to have a more specific control of cell function. This light, called coherent control, has already been used by chemists, but these researchers were the first to use it in a live cell. They have since documented this study in the journal Nature Physics.

The procedure by which a scientist can modify a live cell with light is called optogenetics. In this method, scientists genetically modify cells to be sensitive to light.

This allows them to be imaged, observed and, to a degree, controlled.

Tailored light refines this process because instead of indiscriminate-

ly shining light, they are paying attention to color, wavelength and intensity in order to control cells in a more specific way.

“What we found was by changing the light parameters, we can now control the output of these neurons,” said Dr. Stephen Boppart, leader of the study and University professor.

He explained how changing the color and wavelength of light can change when and how often a neuron can fire.

By tailoring light, they control how much energy the cell has, creating different states of excitation.

These different states can cause ion channels to open or close, thus controlling whether the neuron can fire or not. The next step for the researchers is to use these procedures to effectively control large networks of neurons rather than just a single cell.

“We can develop this framework for being able to know which cells are interconnected and using that as a basis for optical delivery sys-

tems,” said Carlos Renteria, graduate student in Engineering. “[When] we know what we are targeting, we know how the network is connected and we can potentially use that as a basis for not just stimulating, but potentially controlling those networks.”

Renteria is developing an algorithm to assess network connectivity in cell cultures and brain tissue. He hopes to integrate it with the optical imaging system to better understand cell networks and how they communicate among themselves.

“The next step is we’re trying to use coherent control in the retina to see if it also has this effect,” said Yuanzhi Liu, postdoctoral research associate in Engineering. “People say the eye is the window to the soul, and actually the eye is a pretty good window because it is transparent; you can directly go in to look at the blood vessels or photoreceptors.”

Since the cells in the retina are already sensitive to light, the researchers want to target these cells

PHOTO COURTESY OF ISTOCK

8

to see if their tailored light has an effect.

The retina is sensitive to circadian rhythm, the biological clock that regulates the physiological systems of the body. When circadian rhythms are thrown out of order, it can affect metabolism, in turn creating sleep and mood disorders. The hope is that by learning how light can affect the light-sensitive receptors in the retina, medical solutions to these types of problems can be investigated.

“The main reason I studied medicine was that I saw many problems in the medical field that could be solved by technical solutions,” Boppart said, highlighting how his research is always concerned with “that interface between medicine and engineering.”

Another possible application of retinal research in the relation to light could be investigating the obesity problem. Boppart noted that some researchers believe the

many screens in modern life could be a factor in the obesity epidemic. Research that focuses on how circadian rhythms and metabolism are affected by different types of light meeting the retina could reveal if these beliefs are true.

CARLOS RENTERIA Although these GRADUATE STUDENT IN ENGINEERING possible applications are a long way from being evidence,” Liu said. “That is the a reality, Yangzhi noted that this interest for a researcher: to explore research also serves to open avenues some fundamental questions. They’re and inspire curiosity in this field. unknown fundamental questions, but “People still don’t know too we have some tools we can develop many things about the brain. That’s to solve them.” why we feel quite excited — it’s an mn3@readtechno.com unexplored field, but we know some

“We can develop this framework for being able to know which cells are interconnected and using that as a basis for optical delivery systems.”

9

You’re a study in contradictions: A calculated risk taker.

An adrenaline junkie in full control.

A dialed-down type A.

In other words, you were born to fly.

Our programs—including associate’s degree, pilot and instructor certificates, and ratings—will put you right on the path to becoming a successful pilot.

TAKE CONTROL.

aviation.parkland.edu

WALK TO CAMPUS! • Walk to U of I Engineering Campus • Laundry in Apartment, Furnished, Internet • 1, 2, 3 Bedroom Apartments & Houses

217-344-0394 advantageproperties.com

10

NOW LEASING!

1, 2, 3 & 4 BEDROOMS FOR FALL 2018

Walking distance to Illini Union, ECE, Grainger, Seibel, DCL, Beckman Institute

MHM Properties

303 S. FIFTH • 606 E. WHITE • 314 E. CLARK • 102 S. LINCOLN AVE. • 605 E. CLARK OFFICE: 303 S. FIFTH STREET CHAMPAIGN | 217•337•8852 CONTACT@MHMPROPERTIES.COM

中文（普

) 人员 协助

SAFETY • COMPORT • LUXURY • SERVICE FOR MORE INFORMATION FIND US ONLINE AT

www.mhmproperties.com

11

BY ZACK FISHMAN | TECHNOGRAPH WRITER

he United States is on track for significantly warmer temperatures and more frequent heat waves that could threaten the health and livelihood of Americans nationwide, according to a new climate study from the University.

Led by Zach Zobel, graduate student in LAS, and Don Wuebbles, professor in the Department of Atmospheric

FOLLOW US!

Sciences and an international leader in climate change studies, the research provides detailed predictions of future regional temperatures.

With groundbreaking precision, they predicted that in the next several decades, areas across the U.S. will experience alarming increases in temperature that may lead to large-scale crop failure, shortages of natural

resources and endangerment of human life.

Climate change has been a pressing topic in recent years, with thousands of scientists running projections that detail the Earth’s current trajectory toward global warming and frequent extreme weather. They conclusively attribute this phenomenon to man-made emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon

12

13

assuming worldwide consumption of fossil fuels will continue unabated, but Zobel ran a second simulation that modeled a major global reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. He obtained significantly different findings.

According to the second model, reduced emissions would cause temperatures to peak mid-century before stabilizing, so by the 2090s, some U.S. regions would experience dozens of fewer extremely hot summer days and snowless winter days than if emissions weren’t reduced.

If carbon dioxide emissions are substantially cut in the real world as modeled in the second simulation,

“the potential impact on human lives would be dramatic,” Wuebbles said. “(The study) tells us we need to be thinking about how we can reduce emissions and recognizing that we have solutions. We do not need to be reliant on fossil fuels as we have in the past.”

Atmospheric sciences assistant professor Ryan Sriver, who studies climate change uncertainties and their effects on decision-making, believes this study could help inform local policymakers.

Sriver said, the study’s high-resolution technique provides predictions specific to individual regions, which is import-

analysis

national events

students.

THE DAILY ILLINI online sports culture

current events

on your mobile device

406 E. Stoughton

The Village

201 S. Wright

303 S. Wright

217-359-6108 • jsm@jsmliving.com

news stories

entertainment classes

journalism

data trends

ant for decision-makers in these regions concerned with the future climate.

“Think of it as a tool for transforming our understanding of the global system into a regional product that can be used for local decisions related to climate change,” Sriver said. “The research is more expansive and comprehensive than anything I’ve seen to this day, so I applaud (Zobel and Wuebbles) for that.”

However, Sriver has some questions about the study’s rigor.

To handle the high mathematical demands of the model, Zobel and Wuebbles used Blue Waters, the Illinois supercomputer that can consume significant time and electricity to complete immense calculations.

For such a large cost, “What do you actually learn from

going to this higher resolution?”

Sriver asked. “Are you simply increasing the fidelity or are you learning something new?”

He said that he would like to see the results compared with a simpler, less costly high-resolution method to answer these questions.

Nevertheless, Zobel and Wuebbles, who are now applying the advanced computing method to predict future precipitation patterns, see their work as important to understanding the implications of climate change on human society.

Describing the dangerous heat that potentially lies ahead, Wuebbles said concisely, “What was uncommon is going to become common.” zbf2@readtechno.com

Receive a

life local

in print

CONVENIENT NORTH QUAD APARTMENTS AVAILABLE

international

regions,” he said, “whereas the northern regions saw the biggest increase in the wintertime when it comes to extreme temperatures.”

However, almost every American will experience higher temperatures under current emission patterns, Zobel said.

“By the end of the century, we’re going to see drastically different climate in most of the regions in the United States, if not all of them,” he said.

These higher temperatures have real consequences for society. Populations not accustomed to the frequent and intense heat waves will experience serious health problems, while yields of basic crops, like corn and soybeans, will dramatically fall at sustained higher temperatures.

These results were generated

University

dioxide.

But as Zobel explained, while these models are fairly effective at representing the dynamics of the atmosphere and predicting broad climate patterns, they “struggle when it comes to the local extremes, which is why there’s a need for this project.”

Published and highlighted in the journal “Earth’s Future” last December, Zobel’s model boasts an unprecedented level of precision, being 10 times more precise than most other climate models. This accuracy allows Zobel to zoom in on specific regions of the country to predict their mid- and late-century climate.

“During the summer, southern regions saw a much greater increase in extreme temperatures than what we see in the northern

See the Bankier difference.

$1,000

SIGN ON BONUS for any 3 bedroom apartment!

(217) 328-3770 www.bankierapartments.com

14

15

TRADING APP BENEFITS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS YIFAN GU | TECHNOGRAPH WRITER

A

team of four Chinese students studying computer science has designed an app called UmiUni, an online community for exchanging secondhand goods. It has over 1,500 users and a trading volume of over 2,600 goods.

Beginnings The idea of creating a community for exchanging goods originated from Alex Li, who graduated from the University with a degree in actuarial sciences and computer science in 2016.

“Finding a job in the United States becomes much more difficult for international students,” Li said. “America is a suitable place for everyone to create a startup. With little bureaucracy, it’s a land of freedom and equality for entrepreneurs.”

Li said , the market for his business already existed. When graduates planned to go home for visits, they found they were forced to leave some of their belongings behind due

UmiUni Sell

to transport costs. Especially for international students, the cost of transporting belongings home from college through airmail or shipping was too high.

“I decided to construct a platform for international students to exchange idle commodities,” Li said. “That was my first idea.”

Finding business partners in the college Once Li had crafted his idea, he planned to find people to collaborate with at his college.

Luckily, he met his future business partners in one of his classes, Computer Science 125: Intro to Computer Science.

At first, there were three other people on the team: Yuanzhe Bian, the team’s software engineer, Mingze Xiao and Xiaoyan Wang. Bian is responsible for designing and maintaining the server, and Xiao and Wang are responsible for optimizing and upgrading the app.

“I met Alex in Computer Science 125 while we were working on the same project. When he first introduced his idea to me, I found it in-

16 teresting and valuable,” Xiao said. “We planned to widen the market from selling secondhand books to selling secondhand commodities including furniture, electrical appliances, clothes, etc.”

Constructing the international crew The small size of the team posed significant challenges at the outset of the project. Maximum use of human and financial resources was an issue from the start.

“Alex’s first idea was to design and operate a website, but after some discussion, we thought an app was much more suitable for us,” Bian said.

Without any guidance from a teacher or mentor, the startup wasn’t always a success.

Although the basic technology issues had been solved, marketing the app successfully was one of the biggest challenges they faced.

They felt their social circle was too narrow for marketing purposes, and they were unfamiliar with promotional techniques.

“We devoted ourselves to buying the secondhand goods first,” Xiao said. “Then we put up posters in many venues and asked our friends to post their goods on the website.”

After one month of preparation and internal testing, the UmiUni app formally launched in January 2017 and began to attract popularity.

Fifty users, 75 users, 300 users, 700 users … Increasing numbers of users laid the foundation for the team to continue optimizing and diversifying.

Developing a community Now, the UmiUni app is back on track.

The well-established user base and stable user consumption gives creators a chance to further develop the app.

“Having achieved initial success with our creation of a platform for exchanging idle commodities, we are now aiming to develop a community for Chinese international students,” Li said. “There are over 350,000 Chinese international students.

The base of potential participants is huge.”

The UmiUni team is going to start advertising news and events from RSOs to promote a strong relationship among international students. The team also hopes to make the forum a good place for for both international and mainland students to learn about college life in America.

UmiUni holds the bigger dream The future of UmiUni is open and undecided. The team plans to initiate cooperation with corporations in China to help find out more about international students’ lives and to provide greater opportunities for international students.

“China is soaring at an incredible pace now. It’s a good time to integrate international students into the local culture and offer native Chinese students access to American society,” Xiao said. yifangu3@readtechno.com

UmiUni Buy

17

The Master of Science in Law: Where STEM, Law, and Business Converge Designed exclusively for students with STEM backgrounds, the Master of Science in Law degree provides practical, focused legal training in business law & entrepreneurship, intellectual property, and regulatory strategy. MSL students learn to communicate across disciplines, navigate the legal and regulatory structures that exist in STEM settings; bring ideas to market; and develop, protect, and manage IP. Become a more well-rounded professional and expand your career opportunities. The MSL program is offered full-time and part-time in a residential format, and part-time in an online format. The application for Fall 2018 is open through June 1, 2018.

Join us for a webinar For more information, go to www.law.northwestern.edu/msl.

www.law.northwestern.edu/msl

THe Daily Illini

YOUR INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Pick up a free copy on Mondays and Thursdays.

Updated daily online at dailyillini.com

18

FUTURISTIC APPROACH TO CANCER RESEARCH IS A GAME CHANGER MOLLY ZUPAN | TECHNOGRAPH WRITER

C

ancer has repeatedly proven itself to be a tough opponent in the medical field, and it continues to stump researchers around the world. At the University, students and faculty have been working together to combat cancer reoccurrence with a drug-delivering nanoparticle that has the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment.

Dipanjan Pan is an associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering. Pan is also a faculty member of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and Carle Illinois College of Medicine.

Pan and members of his research team have developed a nanoparticle with the ability to target and to destroy canscer stem cells.

Niclosamide, a drug that is widely used to treat tapeworm infections, has to be proven effective when administered by the nanoparticle.

“I like to call them ‘GPS-enabled nanoparticles,’ because they only go after the cells that have properties of a cancer stem cell.

They bind onto the cells and deliver the drug,” Pan said.

Pan and his colleagues are collaborating with a goal in mind: to destroy the cancer stem cells and to prevent reoccurrence or spreading throughout the body.

The founder of the study, Santosh Misra, has made major contributions as well.

“This particular molecule not only binds to the cancer cell, but it delivers the drug to STAT 3, which is the signaling pathway responsible for a wide range of biological processes, such as metastasis and cell proliferation,” Pan said.

Metastasis is the development of malignant growth away from the primary site of cancer, and cell

proliferation is a process that results in an increase in the number of cells.

Chemotherapy treats patients similarly, but without the targeting element of the nanoparticle. As a result, healthy cells and cancer stem cells are attacked.

Pan sees potential for this nanoparticle drug-delivery process to become an accessible and affordable treatment to prevent cancer recurrence because the drug is widely used and approved, and the nanoparticle design is simple to produce.

The research aims to design a combination therapy that can deliver drugs for the cancer, like standard chemotherapy does, and target cancer stem cells specifically to avoid damaging healthy cells.

According to an article published on the Illinois News Bureau, the research has “described and confirmed the proteins and genes responsible for vital processes in

19 these cells, and that is opening up new avenues to make better therapies.”

The nanoparticle and drug combination has been effective on mice and will continue to move forward. Pan and his colleagues will further the research on pigs, a species that has a similar physiology to humans.

They are hopeful this step will bring the process one step closer to human use.

Now that the Carle Illinois College of Medicine — the world’s first engineering-based medical school — has been established, further research can begin.

Stephen Boppart, professor of electrical and computer engineering and head of the Biophotonics Imaging Laboratory at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, is enthused about the future for engineering-based medical research on campus.

“I’ve always been interested in combining medicine with engineering to solve issues in health care with technological solutions,” Boppart said.

This is a new approach to cancer research, one that could potentially be revolutionary.

“Historically, cancer and all health issues have been investigated with biological or

physiological interventions. If we apply engineering to these health issues, we may be able to find solutions that way,” Boppart said. “In my lab, we develop new optical imaging and sensing technologies that can help with medical diagnostics.”

Rohit Bhargava, professor of bioengineering and the founder and director of The Cancer Center at Illinois, has been incredibly involved in accelerating and enhancing cancer-related research at the University.

Bhargava said The Cancer Center was established in July 2017 to “take the basics of science and technology to create interventions for therapies for cancer patients."

The establishment of The Cancer Center and the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, which are combining traditional medical research and engineering, will lead to more discoveries similar to Pan’s.

The University is moving forward with this groundbreaking, futuristic approach to cancer research, and this is just the beginning. mollyz2@readtechno.com

20

YOU’VE MADE SO MANY GREAT MEMORIES HERE. HOLD ON TO THEM FOREVER WITH A YEARBOOK

Only

$

90 Order your yearbook online at

illioyearbook.com or call

217-337-8314

21

BY YOAV MARGALIT | TECHNOGRAPH WRITER big part of college is learning about the problems that exist all around the world and trying to come up with solutions. Then comes the realization that the world is very big, and every problem is very complex. It is easy to become disheartened and to feel intimidated into inaction, but there are still ways to help. Here at the University, one of the ways students are making an impact is through

Engineers Without Borders.

Gathering the individual efforts of students to create real change requires oversight, but more importantly, it requires organization.

Dinaz Kureishy, sophomore in Engineering, serves as the University’s EWB chapter president.

“Here at Illinois, we are working on projects that deal with water, electricity

and bridges, to name a few,” Kureishy said.

“We execute everything from planning and fundraising for trips to designing and implementing our solutions. As students, I think that is pretty incredible.”

EWB’s efforts to bring real and lasting improvements to people who need it through innovation is what drives the projects Kureishy talks about. A moving example of these efforts is the Chilaweni Bridges Partnership.

22

23 Jack Hynes, senior in Engineering, serves as one of the leads for the project.

Hynes said the Chilaweni community is located in the southeastern African country of Malawi. About 20,000 people are often left without access to nearby urban centers when the usual routes they travel on become unavailable. During the wet season, this can often occur for months at a time.

To solve this problem, the Chilaweni Bridges Partnership is designing and overseeing the funding and construction of a series of bridges within the Chilaweni community. With their construction, these bridges will bring consistent schooling to children, the opportunity to sell crops to farmers and medical care to the sick.

Due to the efforts of the students in EWB, these people in the Chilaweni community will have a better standard of life.

To do projects like this one, EWB uses the skills of all its members, with each member of the team having a different role. The project has three parts, each overseen by the team leaders. Project development and community outreach handles the public awareness of the EWB project within the University, while the fundraising committee works to keep the project funded to reach its end goal.

On the engineering side of the project,

design and construction members handle some of the more technical aspects. They innovate new ideas and find the most efficient solution to the project at hand, often with the help of professors. This can come with advice from industry leaders based either in Champaign-Urbana or in Chicago, who can provide the advice necessary to get the project from a hopeful dream to a real-world benefit.

The other project leader of the Chilaweni Bridges Partnership is Lucia Dunderman, senior in ACES. Dunderman said there is a trickle effect at play: What the project is doing is saving lives, and those people have the ability to help make their own world better.

“If you’re just changing one person’s life, for them you’re changing the world,” Dunderman said.

Another EWB initiative is the Nepal Structures Project. In a mountainous area with frequent earthquakes like Nepal, buildings that are not built to certain specifications can quickly be spotted. The project addresses the need for a stable structure that can serve a community’s need, according to Jake Feiger, junior in Engineering.

“In a building’s corner … you’ll see a lot of exposed brick or

wood, where the walls have been shaken against one another,” Feiger said.

The Nepal community needs a building with as much stability as possible, which, in this case, is a school. At high altitudes, the small size, metal roofing and lack of internal plumbing in their Temporary Learning Center contributes to a building that’s hot in the summer, cold in the winter and overall, unsuitable for the education of children.

A new building constructed with the limitations of the area in mind would drastically improve the community’s ability to educate its children, allowing them to take more skilled jobs than their parents.

Thinking back on the trip he and other project members took to visit the village, Feiger remembered that many of the children wished to be pilots when they were older because seeing helicopters and planes in the sky would be their reminders of the wider world.

Trying to change the world is admirable, but it takes fortitude, commitment and organization to make any kind of meaningful progress.

Here at the University, the students working in Engineers Without Borders are demonstrating that anyone can make the world a better place, one place at a time. yoavm2@readtechno.com

Tropic LIKE ITS HOT March 28th | 4pm-8pm | Joe’s (706 S 5th St) WINNER OF THE $7,000 COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCED AT 8PM (MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN)

Hourly giveaways including: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Apple watch iPad Mini Smart home package & more!

Date & prizes subject to change. Actual prizes may vary. Limited time only. See office for details.