INTERNATIONAL SERVICE PROJECT - PANAMA

In 1991, Chris McCartin, a new civil engineering graduate, moved to the Bayano region of Panama for 18 month to help build a water-supply system for a Catholic missionary priest he had never met.

So began Villanova Engineering’s relationship with Father Wally "Padre Pablo" Kasuboski and his Cheypo Bayano Mission. Twenty-five years later, 15,000 local residents have access to fresh, potable water year round thanks to the efforts of more than 100 Villanova engineering students and faculty. Other projects have included building chapels, schools and roads.

Today, much of Villanova’s work in this Panama region involves:

Development of a sustainable water resources master plan, including dams and reservoirs
Vado culvert bridge design
Primary school design

To provide additional support for the needs of these communities, Villanova engineering teams have established relationships with a number of organizations in Panama, including two engineering schools, one architectural school and the City of Knowledge non-profit organization.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES

GRADUATE STUDIES

CONTACT

For more information about international service opportunities in the College of Engineering, including how you can help support our students in these experiences, contact Dr. Jordan Ermilio, director of the Center for Humanitarian Engineering and International Development at jordan.ermilio@villanova.edu or 610-519-6859.

IGNITING INTERNATIONAL CHANGE

CAMBODIA

In partnership with Golden West Humanitarian Foundation, Villanova Engineering faculty and students have designed and built a low-cost humanitarian explosive ordnance disposal robot capable of operating in low-income countries, like Cambodia. MORE...

MADAGASCAR

Villanova Engineers are working with Catholic Relief Services on the sustainability of water supply infrastructure in Madagascar. The project involves graduate students in the Sustainable Engineering program, as well Mechanical Engineering majors whose senior design projects are innovating solutions to water scarcity problems.

PANAMA

For more than 25 years, Villanova Engineers have partnered with Father Wally in the Bayano region of Panama to develop a sustainable water resources master plan, including gravity-driven water networks, dams and reservoirs. Other infrastructure projects have included bridges, schools and churches.

ECUADOR

With the support of the industry group IEEE and in collaboration with the local university ESPOL, Villanova Engineers are rehabilitating solar home systems in Cerrito de Los Morreños and developing a community intranet to share sustainable education resources among schools on the Island of San Cristobal. MORE...

MEXICO

Former Sustainable Engineering graduate student Christa Cook ‘20 MSSE and current Villanova students are working with Global Response Management to address issues of water, sanitation and hygiene at an asylum seekers camp in Matamoros, Mexico. MORE...