Scott Overbey ’21
Woodrow Wilson School
Potable Water for Pusunchás
Certificate(s): History and the Practice of Diplomacy, Urban Studies, Values and Public Life
Our team works to provide potable water to the 65 families of Pusunchás, a rural community in the foothills of the Peruvian Andes. Using data collected from our assessment trip in 2016, we had designed a gravity-fed water system consisting of 18 kilometers of pipeline, a 12,000-liter reservoir tank, pressure breaks, and tap stands. This summer, we continued the implementation of our project. With help from our in-country partners, we were able to install more than six kilometers of pipeline, six pressure breaks and 44 tap stands. This work connected more than 220 additional community members to clean drinking water for the first time in 25 years. Leading a team of community members, construction masons, and NGO partners in pursuit of a common goal gave us the opportunity to apply the technical and leadership skills we learned at Princeton to the real world. Working with EWB shaped our understanding of what applied engineering in pursuit of advancing human rights can look like, and inspired us to incorporate this into our career goals.
2018
Water and Health
Engineers Without Borders (EWB), Princeton Chapter, Peru- Otuzco, Peru
Peter Jaffe, William L. Knapp ’47 Professor of Civil Engineering, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University; Don Moris, Technical Mentor, EWB; Russell Turner, Responsible Engineer in Charge, EWB