School of Engineering
DEANâS MESSAGE As this newsletter goes out, our Tiny House teamâs 238-square-foot solarpowered home on wheels, rEvolve House, has hit the road, headed to Californiaâs first ever Tiny House Competition. For two years, this interdisciplinary undergraduate team has spent countless hours researching tiny house design and sustainable building materials and practices. From walls to water tanks, shingles to shower drains, and trailers to toilets, theyâve researched, purchased, and installed it all. Theyâve kept to a budget. Theyâve met biweekly with administrators to report progress and defend decisions. Theyâve overcome differences of opinion, vendorsâ shifting timelines, and the death of a beloved mentor. Theyâve bonded. Theyâve grown. Theyâve learned. Itâs just this type of beyond-theclassroom learning that makes a Santa Clara engineering graduate so valuable in the workplace. For ten years weâve provided open-ended projects with concrete deliverablesâbig opportunities for our students to take the reins and demonstrate leadership resulting in tremendous accomplishments. This issue of Engineering News shares more of the big things being done by our students and faculty, in and out of the classroom. Our alumni also continue to make their mark through their engineering prowess and their desire to be agents of change and good in the world. Happy reading! And if youâre in the area, please come tour the SCU rEvolve House and the nine other entries at the competition Saturday, October 15 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento. Godfrey Mungal Dean School of Engineering
Photo: Jonathan H. Lee, ConsciousImpact.org
FALL
Building a Life Scott Hanson â14 (BS, civil engineering) was one year out of college and into a lucrative job as project engineer for a respected builder in the San Francisco Bay Area when the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake leveled much of Nepal on April 25, 2015. At that moment he couldnât have guessed that within a year he would be living in a tent in the hills of Nepal, working as construction manager for the nonprofit organization Conscious Impact, rebuilding a school for 75 children in the village of Bimire; but thatâs exactly what happened. A lifelong practice of serving others and a trip to Rwanda to build a water system during his senior year at Santa Clara paved the way for his lifealtering decision to put his knowledge and talents to work as a volunteer for Conscious Impact. âI originally intended to volunteer for two months, travel for two months, come home for the holidays, and then return to work in the Bay again. I truly planned to return to life as it was before my trip, but once I arrived in the hills of Nepal, it didnât take me long to realize that I would be gone for a while,â he said. His knowledge of sustainable building materials and practices has served him well as heâs built with bamboo, stone, steel, and compressed stabilized
www.scu.edu/engineering
Scott Hanson â14 on the job in Nepal.
earth blocks made from local soil, sand, and cement. Heâs also built a water pump system and several gravity-fed systems to serve the volunteer camp and facilitate the production of the thousands of blocks needed for construction. In June, the Siddhartha Primary School was completed. Conscious Impact is currently raising funds for a second primary school in the village; construction will begin once the funding is secured and permits are in hand. In the meantime, underway is a headquarters and sewing facility for the local womenâs co-op, which serves women in over 700 families. âI came to Nepal to help rebuild the lives of those who lost everything, and Iâve gained so much in the processâboth from local Nepalis and from international volunteers from all walks of life. I followed my heart across the globe for what was originally supposed to be two months. More importantly,â he said, âI listened to my heart when it told me to stay. Iâm honored to be here and to be of service to the wonderful Nepali people.â Enjoy an interview with Scott Hanson at scu.edu/engineering/hanson, and read his blog buildgoodthings.wordpress.com. Conscious Impact is currently fundraising to rebuild a second school. Every dollar donated provides two bricks. Learn more: consciousimpact.org
Engineering with a Mission
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