Austin Dahlem began his education at the UK with a focus on mechanical engineering; but once he became involved with the re-launch of the Engineers Without Borders student organization, he realized he could impact more people by addressing humanitarian concerns from a civil engineering perspective.
Austin has twice journeyed to the village of Nkuv, Cameroon, where the EWB team assessed and made recommendations for repairing a 25 mile stretch of dilapidated road that was prohibiting citizens from engaging in commerce with the nearby city of Kumbo. The Cameroonian government used the team’s plans and invested money to repair the road.
Currently, Austin and civil engineering professor Nikiforos Stamatiadis are working on a water purification and distribution system for a town in Honduras. Austin is encouraging proof that students maximize their engineering education when they apply what is taught in the classroom to real-world needs.
“The classroom education gave me a base,” says Austin, “but I understood how it worked when I got involved in hands-on engineering through Engineers Without Borders.”