Volunteer Opportunities

Opportunities exist for anyone who’s interested in EWB Sacramento Valley Professional Chapter to make contributions. To continue our success as an organization, we need a wide range of engineering and non-engineering skill-sets.

Our current projects could use some help with the specific volunteer opportunities described below. If you or someone you know may be qualified and interested in volunteering we encourage you to message us through our Contact Page or email us at sacpropresident@gmail.com.

> Structural Engineer

We are looking for a structural engineer(s) to potentially assist with the assessment of a fire damaged building at D-Q University near Davis – site of our new SVPC/UC Davis Chapter partnership.

> Commercial/Industrial Electric Power Systems

We seek assistance from someone with experience in commercial and industrial electric power systems, to analyze and understand the present electric power supply system and make recommendations for improvements if appropriate. (Rough description of present system is: 1/4 mile (approx.) high voltage mains run to campus and large step-down transformer. Lower voltage power lines then run to further step-down transformers at each building for the 240 and 120 VAC loads.)

> Commercial/Industrial Electric Rate/Billing Analysis

We seek someone who can assist in the analysis of D-Q University’s present electric power billing and make recommendations, if possible and appropriate, for a request to the utility for change of rate structure. (Presently, while campus is nearly unoccupied, monthly electric bills swing from tens of dollars to approximately one thousand dollars.)

> Demand Management/Energy Conservation

EWB seeks help in performing energy audits of the existing facilities. We would like to understand and document, the existing/as-built HVAC, lighting, fenestration, weather-stripping, insulation, water pumping, and water heating systems. We also require assistance in analysis of present and projected facility occupation and energy use, and assistance in making recommendations for energy conservation measures along with estimation of energy-savings and pay-back periods for those measures (e.g: timers and automatic controllers, thermostats, equipment upgrades, weather-stripping and insulation upgrades, etc.)

> Alternative/Renewable Energy Systems

We seek assistance from someone with experience in site analysis for opportunities in the use of solar photovoltaic and wind energy systems for electric generation, and possibly passive and/or active solar heating for campus buildings or water. We need help in making estimates of available resources, and recommendations for appropriate and economical alternative energy systems on campus.

 


 

Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA) is a non-profit organization established in 2000 to help developing areas worldwide with their engineering needs, while involving and training a new kind of internationally responsible engineering student. The projects involve the design and construction of water, wastewater, sanitation, energy, health care and shelter systems. These projects are initiated by, and completed with, contributions from the host community, which is trained to operate the systems without external assistance. In this way, EWB-USA ensures that its projects are appropriate and self-sustaining.