WACO—A university-based Christian organization that mobilizes engineering students to serve the people of developing countries is expanding to become a national nonprofit organization.

Baylor University’s Engineers with a Mission has expanded to Global Appropriate Technology Ministries. The organization will serve as a nonprofit engineering consulting agency for foreign mission projects around the world.

Engineers with a Mission uses engineering students to serve the people of developing countries with their technical skills through culturally appropriate technology projects and mission-oriented trips abroad. (PHOTO/Courtesy of Baylor University)

“What we envision this new nonprofit to be is kind of a sourcing agency for mission projects that if, for example, you need a civil engineer and electrical engineer to come out and build a water purification system or install solar panels for an orphanage in Africa, we can provide that,” said Brian Thomas, senior lecturer of electrical and computer engineering at Baylor, who acts as the faculty adviser to Engineers with a Mission.

“The engineers would usually volunteer their time and expertise. However, in some cases, the money we raise will be used to pay them at least a portion of their salaries and travel expenses.”

Engineers with a Mission uses engineering students to serve the people of developing countries with their technical skills through culturally appropriate technology projects and mission-oriented trips abroad. Thomas founded the pilot chapter at Baylor in 2004.

Thomas said the idea is that Global Appropriate Technology Ministries could provide mission trips with engineers of all disciplines, from electrical engineers to mechanical to civil engineers.

Baylor’s Engineers with a Mission also is expanding the scope of its ongoing work in Honduras.

With 10 students and two Baylor faculty, participants in an upcoming mission trip will split into two smaller groups and serve in two locations.

In the first village, Danta Uno, located in the north central part of Honduras, Baylor engineering students will install a circuit breaker that will allow residents to have electricity 24 hours a day, rather than just a few hours at night.

Last year, Baylor students installed a microhydroelectric generator, which supplied small amounts of power to the village. The students also installed power lines to the homes and electrical meters. However, the metered system no longer will be used after students install the new circuit breaker. The village will be on a fixed-rate tier system for electricity.

In the second village, Pueblo Nuevo, a group of Baylor engineering students will install another microhydroelectric generator, which should provide electricity to about 60 homes. The electricity generated will be used for home lighting.

Most of the residents are poor farmers and light their homes using homemade “candils”—glass jars of kerosene with a cloth wick cut from old clothing. They are costly, give poor light and are a fire hazard. The trip will be the third time a Baylor engineering group has traveled to Pueblo Nuevo.

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