Engineers for a Sustainable World
RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
Our Project Areas
ESW has worked on lots of projects these past years. We've worked on both local and international projects, and here is a brief showcase of the project areas we covered.
Rantlamouaie, Haiti
ESW-RPI has a long track record in Haiti. In January 2010, in partnership with St. John’s Episcopal Church in Troy, ESW students installed a solar-powered computing classroom in Lascahobas. During the summer of 2011, members of ESW, St. John’s, and the Empire Haiti Coalition installed another photovoltaic solar system in La Hoye and a hydroponics agriculture system with a $4,000 grant from the Clinton Global Initiative University. In 2012, in collaboration with the DesignLab at Rensselaer and To Love a Child, the ESW Haiti team converted a used 20-foot shipping container into a patient ward for a medical clinic in Rantlamouaie. Following the summer installation, the ESW team was awarded a $15,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s People, Prosperity, and the Planet Student Design Competition for Sustainability program to convert a shipping container into a Haitian daycare center. ESW members installed the latest container in July/August, 2013.
Ek' Balam, Yucatan, Mexico
ESW-RPI has been working with the village of Ek' Balam since 2012, with the mission of helping the village develop in a safe and sustainable way. Since 2012, many systems have been built for the villagers and a strong relationship has been formed between the club and the people of Ek' Balam. Some of the systems built have been solar panel energy systems and solar water heaters. The Mexico team's goal for 2019 is to sustainably aid in the development of a new community center in Ek' Balam. ESW's projects for the community center include a solar-powered cistern pump, a black water biodigester, and adobe bathrooms.
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Troy, New York
Carbon Countdown is an ESW project team focused on reducing carbon emissions throughout the RPI campus in Troy, NY. Starting in 2019, the team aims to decrease the school's power consumption, increase renewable energy, and reuse/recycle waste. One of the first projects being developed has the goal of reusing scrap paper produced by printers around campus. The project will take the scrap paper and convert it into eco-friendly notebooks that will be distributed for free to students around campus.
Future Projects
We are constantly on the look out for new projects! Projects can started by any student with an idea, and the determination to see it through! If you have an idea, contact us and let's begin.
