Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Engineers Without Borders-USA founding president Bernard Amadei to present final University Lecture of fall semester

Friday, November 5, 2010, By Kelly Homan Rodoski
Share
College of Engineering and Computer Sciencespeakers

In 2001, Bernard Amadei and eight students from the University of Colorado at Boulder installed a sustainable, low-cost clean water system in a village in Belize that met the village’s urgent need for clean water. The project inspired Amadei to found Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB), using the expertise of professional and student engineers to carry out similar projects in developing countries around the globe.

amadeiAmadei will share his experiences and talk about the broad and large role that engineering plays in all forms of recovery and sustainable development during a University Lectures presentation on Tuesday, Nov. 16, in Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel.

His presentation, “Engineering for the Developing World: From Crisis to Development,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Reduced-rate parking is available in the Irving Garage. CART and sign language interpretation will be available.

The lecture is sponsored in cooperation with the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science and the SU Humanities Center as part of the 2010 Syracuse Symposium.

Amadei will also speak on rebuilding efforts following the January earthquake in Haiti, and how EWB and others with similar skills and talents can confront the rebuilding challenges posed by the inadequate infrastructure in the country.

Amadei is professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU), faculty director of CU’s Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities and co-founder of Engineers Without Borders’ international network. He has focused on transforming the field of engineering by revamping traditional models and establishing professional standards to integrate the field of engineering more closely with pressing global issues and needs, such as redevelopment efforts in earthquake-devastated Haiti.

At the Mortensen Center, Amadei leads its overall mission to educate globally responsible engineering students and professionals who can offer sustainable and appropriate solutions to the endemic problems faced by developing communities worldwide. Amadei’s goal is to promote sustainable development, appropriate technology, service learning and system thinking in the curriculum and research of civil and environmental engineering programs at CU Boulder and other U.S. universities.

Among other distinctions, Amadei is the 2007 co-recipient of the Heinz Award for the Environment, the recipient of the 2008 ENR Award of Excellence and an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He was elected an Ashoka-Knight Fellow in 2010.

Amadei is currently at work on a book “Engineering with Soul.”

During the spring semester, University Lectures guests will include Eric Schlosser, investigative journalist and author of Fast Food Nation (March 1, 2011); James Balog, photographer and director of the Extreme Ice Survey (March 8, 2011); Karen Tse, human rights attorney, founder and director of International Bridges for Justice (March 22, 2011); and Maude Barlow, co-founder of the Blue Planet Project and chair of the Food and Water Watch (April 5, 2011).

  • Author

Kelly Rodoski

  • Recent
  • Snapshots From Route 66: One Student’s Journey to Newhouse LA
    Thursday, May 22, 2025, By Keith Kobland
  • Syracuse University 2025-26 Budget to Include Significant Expansion of Student Financial Aid
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By News Staff
  • Engaged Humanities Network Community Showcase Spotlights Collaborative Work
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By Dan Bernardi
  • Students Engaged in Research and Assessment
    Tuesday, May 20, 2025, By News Staff
  • Syracuse Views Summer 2025
    Monday, May 19, 2025, By News Staff

More In STEM

University’s Dynamic Sustainability Lab and Ireland’s BiOrbic Sign MOU to Advance Markets for the Biobased Economy

This month at the All Island Bioeconomy Summit held in Co. Meath, Ireland, it was announced that BiOrbic, Research Ireland Centre for Bioeconomy, comprising 12 leading Irish research universities in Ireland, signed a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Dynamic Sustainability…

Professor Bing Dong Named as the Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The College of Engineering and Computer Science has named Bing Dong as the Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. This endowed professorship is made possible by a 1998 gift from the late Fritz Traugott H’98 and his wife, Frances….

Physics Professor Honored for Efforts to Improve Learning, Retention

The Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) has made some big changes lately. The department just added an astronomy major approved by New York State and recently overhauled the undergraduate curriculum to replace traditional labs with innovative…

ECS Team Takes First Place in American Society of Civil Engineers Competition

Civil and environmental engineering student teams participated in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Sustainable Solutions and Steel Bridge competitions during the 2025 Upstate New York-Canada Student Symposium, winning first place in the Sustainable Solutions competition. The symposium was…

Chloe Britton Naime Committed to Advocating for Improved Outcomes for Neurodivergent Individuals

Chloe Britton Naime ’25 is about to complete a challenging and rare dual major program in both mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering and Computer Science and neuroscience from the College of Arts and Sciences. Even more impressive? Britton…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.