On Wednesday, Oct. 28, Emmanuel Tuombe, an engineer from Rwanda, will speak about students using their skills to help others at an event hosted by The University of Memphis student chapter of Engineers Without Borders-USA.
Tuombe moved to Memphis about four years ago from Rwanda, where he was an engineer and founded the Rwanda chapter of Engineers Without Borders.
"I asked him to talk about his story of growing up in Rwanda, and what his living conditions were like in the communities around him growing up and what inspired him to be an engineer," said Parker DePriest, vice president of The U of M student chapter of EWB. "After he founded Engineers Without Borders Rwanda, they did a lot of projects on trying to find more renewable energy sources, so I asked him to talk about that, too."
Tuombe will also discuss some of his other projects in Rwanda and the effect they had on the local community.
"Now he's a project engineer at Barnhart Crane and Rigging, which has a huge philanthropic arm," DePriest said. "He's planning on going back to Rwanda to do more work there once he's gotten to the point where he has more engineering experience."
The event, which includes drinks and snacks, will be free and open to the public in room 102 of the Engineering Administration Building.
"I think a lot of people will be interested in Mr.Tuombe's story, and his story has an impact on more than just engineers," DePriest said.
