Engineering World Health

We're delighted to see what the future brings us as we merge with the team at Engineering World Health. ?? Thanks to Cori Lathan, PhD, Chair of the EWH Board, for shining a light on what the future of this merger means for EWB-USA, our volunteers, and the communities we partner with! Read more on our blog. ?? ?? https://lnkd.in/gtECaqaS

We're thrilled to be featured in Engineering News-Record! Learn more about the exciting merger between Engineers Without Borders USA and Engineering World Health, and how this partnership will enhance our mission to provide sustainable solutions to communities in need. Check out the full article for details! #EWBUSA #ENRNews #GlobalEngineering #SustainableDevelopment https://lnkd.in/gExATktN

Did you see the news last week? EWB-USA and Engineering World Health have joined forces to become a powerhouse for sustainable global solutions! This exciting merger combines our expertise in infrastructure with EWH's medical equipment know-how, empowering communities worldwide. ??? Learn more about this merger and what it means for EWB-USA, on our blog! ?? https://lnkd.in/gtECaqaS

We're thrilled to see what the future brings us as we merge with the team at Engineering World Health Engineering World Health. ?? Thanks to Melissa Montgomery, PE, Chief Programs Officer at EWB-USA, for providing insight on the importance of this team announcement, and for highlighting that our growing organization will be able to make an even greater impact in the communities where we partner. Read more on our blog. ??? ?? https://lnkd.in/gtECaqaS

We have some very exciting news! Today, EWB-USA and Engineering World Health are thrilled to announce our merger. ?? Together, we are uniting EWB-USA's expertise in creating sustainable infrastructure with EWH's focus on improving health systems in low-resource settings, amplifying their collective impact on global health and engineering solutions. ?? We're excited to continue serving our community and making a positive difference. Read more about this exciting merger on our blog: https://lnkd.in/gtECaqaS

For the first few weeks of June, I took you all along my journey as a Volunteer Biomedical Equipment Technician in Uganda. It did not stop there! I spent the month of July stationed at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital. This hospital serves 17 districts that surround the city. We repaired and serviced several pieces of equipment that ranged from digital blood pressure monitors to operating tables at the hospital and surrounding health centers. Alongside Magaba Jessy John and professional carpenters, we carried out a secondary project at the hospitals’ NICU ward. It was in dire need for additional storage space for visitors who are required to change out of their outside clothes. I learnt a thing or two about carpentry and spray painting?? Collectively, 24 students from 7 countries returned 269 pieces of critical medical equipment to service across 34 health facilities throughout Uganda. Special thanks goes to Engineering World Health, @Pearl Milling Company’s P.E.A.R.L Pledge grant, claire Atim, Liz Drotos Racheal Nalwoga & Dr Robert Ssekitoleko and his team and finally my amazing fellow colleagues for making this experience awesome! #EWH #MakBME #Volunteer #Health #BME #MedicalEquipment #Technology #STEM

During my time in Uganda with Engineering World Health, my team and I came across countless pieces of rusted equipment throughout our placement hospital. In the pediatric ward, the rusted beds presented several problems: (1) babies crawl, play, and grab the things around them. For infants not yet immunized against tetanus, a scratch from a rusty nursery bed could be dangerous! (2) some of the bed legs were so badly rusted that the beds no longer stood on their own. They were propped up on rocks or cast into the far end of the ward. For our secondary project, my team recruited the help of local metalworkers to cut off the rusted legs and weld on replacements (with material scavenged from the equipment graveyard at the hospital). Then, we sanded the welds, painted the legs, and placed rubber feet on the legs to fend off further rusting. As a bonus, we found waterproof fabric at a local motorcycle shop to help protect the torn mattress covers. Despite the late nights and long hours on this project, I'm proud of the work we did and grateful for the impact that small environmental changes can have on the quality of healthcare.

?? One Month, 54 Devices, Countless Lessons Learned ?? I’m thrilled to share highlights from my recent volunteering experience with Engineering World Health in Guatemala. Alongside an amazing team—César André Cifuentes, Sofie Bjerre Degn, and Hannah Wolfe Julsgart—and our incredible coordinators LAURA FERNANDEZ TERRON, Zach D'Agostino, and José Trujillo, we spent a month at Hospital Nacional de Sololá making a tangible impact. Together, we worked on 54 medical devices, successfully repairing 42 of them (77% success rate). This experience highlighted the stark contrast between Sololá and Rodolfo Robles Hospital in Xela, where we previously had access to a graveyard of spare parts. In Sololá, we had to make tough calls, abandoning 10 devices due to a lack of resources. On the upside, 9 devices only needed staff training for proper use—simple fixes that made a big difference! For example, electrical stoves were being overused, leading to burnt wires, all due to a lack of accessible instructions. This experience underscored the critical importance of *preventive maintenance*—a practice that could have saved 15 of the devices we encountered. It was tough to accept that our time was limited and more help is needed, particularly a full-time Field Biomedical Engineer. We had to prioritize high-impact fixes, ensuring that we supported all departments as equally as possible. I’m proud to say we restored all equipment in the Emergency, Men’s, Women’s, and Pediatrics Departments ?? . With a modest $300 budget, we stretched every dollar: - Built 2 dehumidifiers (45 GTQ vs. 3750 GTQ each) - Created a thermal pot to keep patient meals warm (837 GTQ vs. 3700 GTQ) - Assembled a laundry rolling bucket - Purchased 6 stools, 6 clipboards, a hand stair, and 2 calculators for the Pharmacy A huge thanks to the nurses and pharmacy workers for their trust, our coordinators for empowering us to overcome impostor syndrome, and the maintenance team, who adopted us as their own. ????? Finally, a heartfelt thank you to Engineers Without Borders USA for visiting our project. I’m excited about the potential collaboration to extend our reach and emphasize the importance of donating both medical devices and the time to train staff so that equipment reaches its full potential. ?? This month was a powerful reminder that with limited resources and a dedicated team ??, we can still make a meaningful difference. ?? #Volunteering #BiomedicalEngineering #EngineeringWorldHealth #GlobalHealth #PreventiveMaintenance #ImpactfulWork #Collaboration

Engineering World Health Summer Institute by the numbers: ? 24 students from 7 countries returned 269 pieces of critical medical equipment to service across 34 health facilities throughout Uganda ? This summer, I've been training and practicing alongside this incredible team. I spent the month of July at Kiboga Hospital, an under-resourced facility without a dedicated technician or engineer. We worked on everything from oxygen concentrators to ACs to wheelchairs...but here's what the highlight reel won't show you: the work we did is only the tip of the iceberg. There were issues that stumped us, spare parts that were impossibly expensive to justify, and improvised fixes that unfortunately won't be sustainable for the long run. I'm deeply humbled by my continuing work with EWH, and have a long list of people to be grateful to for making this happen.