Engineers for a Sustainable World

About ESW

Our History

2001

While earning an engineering masters degree at Cornell University, Regina Clewlow began developing the vision for Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW). When she had finished her bachelor of science in early 2001, Regina had been looking for a way to use her engineering know-how to make a positive contribution to the world – in particular, to improve the lives of those living in poverty, and to ensure that the world’s resources could continue to support the growing human population. She was somewhat disappointed that during her college engineering experience, there were few opportunities to discuss (and address) critical real-world problems.

Regina worked with her mentor and friend, Krishna Athreya, the co-founder of ESW, to develop the framework for what soon became a rapidly-growing national organization. Krishna, as the Director of Women and Minority Programs at Cornell University, was concerned about the recruitment and retention of talented female and underrepresented minority students into the field of engineering, and was convinced that an organization like ESW could make a difference. Having spent much of her life in rural India, she was also all too familiar with some of the critical challenges that faced humanity and our environment.

And so, through the desire of these women to build a better future, Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) was born.

2002

As part of a masters degree course, Regina developed the business plan for ESW. She secured affiliation with a local non-profit incubator called CRESP, and began volunteering full-time after graduating to lay the groundwork for the organization.

In the spring of 2002, the first collegiate chapters were formed at Cornell University and Pennsylvania State University. By December of that year, several other chapters would form at leading engineering programs in the United States; including Stanford, Northwestern, CalTech, and UC Berkeley.

The first two overseas volunteers were sent to Costa Rica and India during the summer of 2002, spending three months volunteering on water and environmental projects. As part of the ESW model, the volunteers’ work was coordinated with locally-based organizations.

2003

In the spring of 2003, the first ESW college course was launched by Rachel Davidson at Cornell University. Through the class, students worked on sustainable engineering projects to address real-world problems. Through one of their flagship projects, a Cornell student team worked with local Honduran technicians and engineers, increasing access to clean water for villages in the rural Western region of the country.

Cornell University hosted the first national conference. Over 150 students, academics, and industry professionals attended.

2004

Stanford University hosted the second annual ESW conference. Over 600 participants attended, four times as many people than in 2003.

2005

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approached ESW to begin building a global framework for the organization. ESW began hosting a series of meetings with partners from around the world to develop a shared vision and plan to engage engineers in sustainable development.

By now, ESW-affiliated faculty and students have started 13 “engineering for sustainable development” course on 10 college campuses in the United States.

TODAY...

With a network of over 3000 students and professionals around the world, ESW is working to become an even more effective organization, building the next generation of better, more diverse, more sustainable engineers.