Engineers Without Borders
EWB students at their international service trip to Bolivia
2022 EWB Committee at the Regional Conference Trip to Iowa State
Above, KU students pose after the end of our international service trip to Bolivia and 2022 EWB Regional Conference Trip to Iowa State.
EWB-KU is a student organization at the University of Kansas committed to assisting communities, locally, domestically, and internationally. After its founding in the fall of 2008, the members of EWB-KU decided to help fill a need for sustainable sanitation in the rural Bolivian community of Azacilo. Now, the KU chapter of the Engineers Without Borders USA has expanded its service around the nation, in Bolivia, and in Uganda
In recent years, EWB-KU has put more of a focus on local projects. This year we are working with Habitat for Humanity, an organization with a goal of building affordable houses for the community, Adopt-A-Highway aimed at cleaning our roads, and the Tiny House Project whose mission is to construct temporary housing units to areas struck by natural disasters. In the past, we have volunteered for trash pickups along Clinton Lake and the Kansas River and plan to do more around the Lawrence and KC area!
As a part of our chapter, students travel annually to several other states to volunteer their efforts in other communities. Recently these projects have included trips to Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. Our students also annually travel to the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana, for spring break. The students work with Historic Green, a non-profit organization aimed to help rebuild and restore homes after they were destroyed or abandoned in the course of Hurricane Katrina and to support new community developments such as a community church, playground, and garden.
EWB is most notably known for our international projects. Our first sanitation project started in Azacilo, Bolivia building eco-latrines. The project has since expanded to continue the eco-latrine project in the nearby community of Colani and an additional project in Azacilo developing shower systems. This year, EWB-KU is proud to announce a new project in Bubogo, Uganda where we plan to establish a new water source for an 800-member community in need of cleaner drinking water.
2023-2024 Executive Team
- President: Rachel Odabasi – reodabasi@ku.edu
- Director of Membership: Abbie Peters - abbielpeters13@ku.edu
- Director of Fundraising: Hannah Robinson - hannah.robinson@ku.edu
- Director of Finance: Josh Meacham – joshmeacham@ku.edu
- Director of International Projects: Arul Sethi – arulsethi@ku.edu
- Director of Domestic Projects: Ella Legreid – ellalegreid@ku.edu
- Director of Communication: Andrew Ha - assha@ku.edu
- Grants/Proposals Cochairs: Brett Hoover – b.hoover@ku.edu and Takoma Lees - takomableu@ku.edu
- Outreach Cochairs: Ben Shaw – benjamin.shaw@ku.edu and Jamie Levine - j064l468@ku.edu
- School of Engineering Chair: Austin Wohleb – amwohleb@ku.edu
- Local Projects Chair: Sophie Hamilton – sophieham@ku.edu
- Design & Marketing Chair: Laura VanderMeulen– lvandermeulen17@ku.edu
- Social Chair: Andreanna Edwards – andreannaedwards1@ku.edu
- Media Chair: Irene Xu – irene.xu@ku.edu
- Faculty Advisor: Matt O'Reilly - oreilly3@ku.edu
Email: ewb.ku.eng@gmail.com
For more information including our upcoming calendar and contacts please visit our website: