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Engineers Without
Borders (EWB)
Michigan Tech has an Engineers Without Borders chapter that belongs to EWB-USA. Engineers Without Borders partners with communities in developing countries to design and implement sustainable engineered solutions.
ExCit:
Expanding Cities: People, Water, and Infrastructure
ExCit is a student exchange program consortium of six research-based universities in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. The focus area for the program is decision making for meeting the growing demands on urban water resources systems.
Student activities consist of three stages: intensive language training, coursework in water resources and sustainable development, and professional or research internships with local businesses, municipalities, agencies or at the host university.
The universities forming this consortium are Michigan Technological University University, Houghton, Michigan, USA, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, the Universidad de Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico University of Guadalajara, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada and the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. These universities offer a broad range of expertise in the area of urban water resources development, from the study of the natural environments that provide water for water supply, to the design of urban water distribution networks and the financing of infrastructure improvements.
Aqua
Terra Tech Enterprise Program
The Aqua Terra Tech Enterprise Program allows students a unique curriculum path for developing and practicing technical and business skills in a multidisciplinary setting where an emphasis is placed on projects and business. Aqua Terra Tech was started as an environmental consulting enterprise, initially focusing on a collaborative project with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) to characterize the Silver River Watershed on the L'Anse Indian Reservation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The program has also begun working on water & sanitation issues in Nicaragua.
Partnership With University of Sonora
In 1992, Michigan Tech and the University of Sonora (UNISON), Mexico formalized a relationship, which has grown into a strong partnership between the two universities. Several grants have been obtained through the partnership, enhancing the departments in both universities. Approximately 50 faculty from Michigan Tech have visited UNISON for research and teaching collaboration, with visits ranging from a week to four months. Seven UNISON faculty have visited MTU for research and teaching collaboration.
The most recent grants spearheaded by the partnership are a three-year grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), titled “Michigan Tech-UNISON Linkage: Training a Core of Water Resources Experts,” also known as the “TIES” program, and a four-year grant titled “ExCit: Expanding Cities- People, Water and Infrastructure.” The TIES program was highlighted in the Frontlines news for USAID . ExCit establishing a consortium of six research-based universities in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S., for the purpose of exchanging students and faculty. The focus area for the mobility program is sustainable water resources management in North America. Both grants are in effect through 2007.
Additionally, Michigan Tech students and faculty cooperated with UNISON and Mexican government agencies in the design and construction of wastewater and solid waste facilities for the rural, marginalized town of Rosario de Tesopaco, Sonora. Designs and funding for construction of project were approved by the Mexican federal government. Construction of wastewater treatment facility began in 2004.
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