Engineering Global Brigades

Our Mission

UMEarth, a dynamic and forward-thinking student group at the University of Manitoba, is driven by a particular goal: to equip students with the skills, experience, and connections needed to excel in careers dedicated to sustainability. Over the years, UMEarth members have built an environment where students can actively engage with design competitions, consulting projects, and various sustainable initiatives.

The group has reached a point where our belief is that our commitment to sustainability should not be confined to campus boundaries, but rather extended to make a meaningful impact on under-resourced communities globally. In order for UMEarth to obtain international community outreach, our group has reached out to Global Brigades.

The Project

In February 2024, the University of Manitoba Global Engineering Brigade team will travel to a community in Honduras whose needs match the skills and expertise we can offer. The team will be primarily involved in the first two stages of the project execution: assessment and design.

Initially, the team will conduct a meeting with community leaders and the local engineers to discuss the project needs. Following, the team will perform technical evaluation of the water source, and project mapping and measurements of elevation and distance using GPS and surveying equipment and software. This information will inform initial design and recommendations for the community water system. The design will include piping size, length, type, and material, as well as the potential filtration system and pumping system. At the end of the trip, a presentation of the design and findings will be provided to the community engineers and leaders.

The Project

Global Brigades is committed to empowering communities and creating lasting solutions. Our dedicated team strives to accomplish this by working in tandem with the community, transferring our knowledge and skills to develop a sustainable solution for the prevailing issue of water scarcity.

We hope that this experience will provide us with a better understanding of the issues surrounding drinking water access and a heightened awareness of the multifaceted challenges confronting under-resourced communities. Moreover, it is our goal that our team's collaborative efforts will continue into the future, through further advocacy for social issues and future volunteer or career contributions to these issues.