Patrik

"Engineering is an excellent tool to have a positive impact in our society while having lots of fun"

As I have purposely sought to integrate myself into various cultures over the years, it has been my intention that one day I would be able to help improve the quality of life for inhabitants of third world countries. Therefore, I have spent over ten years living in countries such as Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Malaysia, Morocco, India and China. I have learned to speak some of their languages, share their hardships, and gain their trust. It is now my plan to specialize in the practical implementation of modern structural technical methods that can be adopted by communities in these developing nations.
Over the years I have frequently observed how these countries are temporarily occupied by well intentioned outside assistance in the wake of disasters such as floods and earthquakes. Unfortunately, I have also witnessed many occasions in which the local residents assume the role of observers, rather than participants,during the reconstruction effort. In fact, the locals are completely unfamiliar with the imported materials, tools, and techniques used in most of these situations. Any opportunity for change in their outdated methods (not to mention organizational and motivational practices) is lost with the departure of the outside assistance.

My believe is that a better solution would improve the safety and living standards of both present and future generations. I suggest teaching simple, but improved construction techniques to the locals. They would make use of affordable and readily available materials. Sophistication will be substituted with ingenuity. Costly and rare materials will have to be substituted by locally available ones. A partnership atmosphere would be created in order to allow the locals to feel motivated in assuming a leadership role.

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