Sooner Village

In this project, incoming freshman engineering students will be provided with a scenario describing the infrastructure needs of a rural village, along with the cultural, political, social, and economic setting. Students will then be asked to design critical infrastructure components for the community, including water supply, water treatment, water delivery, wastewater disposal and sanitation, transportation and building design. For many students the experience will culminate with an Engineers Without Borders or similar project, wherein the students will actually construct one of their designs in a developing village. This would include raising funds to cover materials and travel costs as well as working with a community to assess their needs and foster a local connection. This type of integrated learning is intended to teach engineering students the practical technical and non-technical aspects of their classroom learning as well as the complexity of infrastructure building in developing areas and the importance of civic responsibility and global awareness.