Asee peer logo

High Altitude Water Shortage Issues in Peru

Download Paper |

Conference

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual On line

Publication Date

June 22, 2020

Start Date

June 22, 2020

End Date

June 26, 2021

Conference Session

Community Engagement Division Technical Session 5

Tagged Division

Community Engagement Division

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

7

DOI

10.18260/1-2--34725

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/34725

Download Count

400

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Mary Andrade University of Louisville

visit author page

Mary Andrade is the Director of the Career Development and Cooperative Education office at the University of Louisville - J.B. Speed School of Engineering. In this role she oversees the mandatory co-op program for more than 1000 students each year. She is an active member of the Cooperative and Experiential Education Division of ASEE.

visit author page

author page

Michael Scott Keibler University of Louisville

author page

Josh Rivard

Download Paper |

Abstract

In July 2018, the University of Louisville sent a team of 8 students, a faculty member and a staff member to Calca, Peru to meet with indigenous, marginalized communities to support and assist them in their efforts to address water access issues and concerns. This project developed out a need to increase global opportunities at a four-year, mandatory co-op engineering program that offered few opportunities for global exposure. The result was the development of a semester-long course which culminates in a 16 day in-country experience. This program utilizes three partners: the indigenous communities, a local non-profit organization (Andean Alliance) that facilitates the relationship and the university. Students utilize a consulting model to work with the Peruvian community to assess an extensive problem and identify and define a subset of the problem where they can effect change. Students integrated the use of drones, a GIS computer system, and flow calculation systems to create a document and map that identifies and quantifies water loss and canal damage, this data can be used to apply for federal funding to correct canal issues and improve water usage among the farming communities that were targeted. Program improvements developed from technical issues from the first trip and a stronger understanding of the community needs. The semester course incorporated higher technical training, the addition of drone training and a technical support staff member. Future trips will incorporate additional technology and build upon the base map that was developed. It will also incorporate training with community members to increase data collection throughout the year and to inspire ownership of the project and the results.

Andrade, M., & Keibler, M. S., & Rivard, J. (2020, June), High Altitude Water Shortage Issues in Peru Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34725

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2020 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015