Half a world away, 天美影视传媒 civil and envi颅ron颅men颅tal engi颅neer颅ing stu颅dents trace the out颅lines of roads, paths and build颅ings in Nepal from their lap颅tops.
Using open data soft颅ware , the students in assistant professor 鈥檚 Civil Engi颅neer颅ing in Devel颅op颅ing Com颅mu颅ni颅ties class joined an into maps and aid the earth颅quake relief effort. These dig颅i颅tized maps provide emer颅gency respon颅ders and relief coordinators responding to the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and powerful aftershocks in Nepal with crit颅i颅cal data to guide teams deployed on the ground.
鈥�Find颅ing that one lit颅tle vil颅lage with no major high颅ways and being able to tell some颅one that that vil颅lage is there is really reward颅ing. Because if it鈥檚 not marked on that map, then there are a lot of cracks that it could slip through,鈥� said civil and environmental engineering grad颅u颅ate stu颅dent Leigh Allison.
The has mobilized more than 4,000 volunteer mappers to provide basic information and help establish relief priorities in Kathmandu and remote mountainous regions that were affected or leveled by the quake. The massive project is divided up into discrete tasks, such as mapping roads, residential neighborhoods, villages or landslides in a particular area. The volunteer mappers also look for open spaces that could serve as helicopter landing zones to deliver supplies and identify impromptu camps where large numbers of displaced residents have gathered.
With each UW stu颅dent con颅tribut颅ing five hours of assigned emer颅gency map颅ping, the class鈥� efforts totaled 120 hours of mean颅ing颅ful dis颅as颅ter response work, and some students plan to continue that work. Even just a few hours makes a dif颅fer颅ence with thou颅sands of vol颅un颅teers work颅ing around the聽globe.
鈥�If you look at the sta颅tis颅tics next to the maps, it鈥檚 really cool to see how much time peo颅ple have donated,鈥� said grad颅u颅ate stu颅dent James聽Lew.
Stu颅dents remarked on how accessible the worldwide crowdsourcing process was and how reward颅ing it felt to see their skills make an imme颅di颅ate impact beyond the walls of the classroom.
鈥�It鈥檚 almost like say颅ing, 鈥楧on鈥檛 for颅get us,鈥欌�� said Lew. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a ten颅dency to want to do the major cities and the infra颅struc颅ture that鈥檚 clos颅est to the major high颅ways, but as you get fur颅ther and fur颅ther out, there鈥檚 still houses out there that are dis颅con颅nected. It鈥檚 really cool to draw a box around them and say, ‘there鈥檚 a fam颅ily here, don鈥檛 for颅get聽them.’鈥�
Engi颅neer颅ing in Devel颅op颅ing Com颅mu颅ni颅ties exam颅ines infra颅struc颅ture and con颅struc颅tion in very poor, often remote loca颅tions, and it dives into top颅ics such as san颅i颅ta颅tion, energy, cross-cultural com颅mu颅ni颅ca颅tion and dis颅as颅ters. The emer颅gency map颅ping project tied into many of the class themes, Kamin颅sky explained, and 鈥渟tu颅dents feel like they鈥檙e mak颅ing a mean颅ing颅ful con颅tri颅bu颅tion with their classwork.鈥�
鈥�In this class, we try to look beyond the tech颅ni颅cal aspects of engi颅neer颅ing to how what we do affects com颅mu颅ni颅ties,鈥� said senior Nick Orsi. 鈥淲ith this project, the work that you did could directly relate to sav颅ing lives. Just hav颅ing that thought process behind you, it really moti颅vated you to do good work that will hope颅fully make it eas颅ier for peo颅ple to help out some of the vic颅tims聽there.鈥�
For more information, contact Kaminsky at jkaminsk@uw.edu.