Santa Clara University

Yasemin Kimyacioglu '08

Giving back: an SCU tradition

Most people would say mechanical engineering student Yasemin Kimyacioglu ’08 made the most of her time at SCU. As a member of the Broncos women’s basketball team, she was named Best Defensive Player and earned the Coaches Award. As a member of the 2007 Solar Decathlon team, she shouldered responsibility for the home’s interior design just months before the October competition got under way.

But when it was time for this energetic undergrad to choose a senior design project, she and her teammates took the opportunity to revitalize an inactive student chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) while working on a water purification system for a rural village in India. As Yasemin says, “This is what the University is all about—helping people. So this was a good way to fulfill a school requirement and help others at the same time.”

Working with the Engineers Without Borders–San Francisco Professionals chapter, Kimyacioglu, Joe Capoccia, Alberto Fonts, Ryan Harami, and Daniel Stadulis opted for a project that can be developed further by next year’s seniors. “Part of our goal is to establish a good footprint for the next class of SCU engineers. We want this student organization to be successful so that the project can one day be brought to fruition,” Yasemin says. “Right now we are developing a working prototype of a solar water distillation unit that will eliminate bacteria and salinity from the water. To be successful in the rural village, our system must be low-tech, low-maintenance, inexpensive, and require very little power. These constraints are challenging, but our EWB advisors from the professionals’ chapter meet with us once every week or two to keep us on track and offer advice.”

In addition to visits to the professionals’ chapter, the group also has speakers come to campus, and Habitat for Humanity work days give the student members an opportunity to help out in their own neighborhood.

“EWB’s mission of helping the world one community at a time is a perfect fit with the ideals of Santa Clara,” says Yasemin. “This is an organization that should be here on campus. Deep down, everyone wants to change the world and help any way they can, and bringing Engineers Without Borders to Santa Clara just seemed like a perfect way to get started.”

Read more engineering profiles.
Return to SCU stories homepage.