Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Redefining this blog

This blog now includes all OSU ECOS "Adventures in Service-Engineering", not just those involving pedal-powered machines in Itzapa, Guatemala.

Who we are:
Engineers for COmmunity Service, commonly known as ECOS, is a student organization at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. The group was founded in 2004 by a handful of students in an Engineering Ethics course. These students strongly believed, and still do believe, that engineers should be held to the same standards of responsibility toward society as Medical Doctors and Lawyers. These professionals perform pro bono service, and so should engineers. ECOS is continually trying to find innovative ways to perform service in light of our comparative advantages as engineers. The ECOS website can be found here: http://ecos.osu.edu

What we do:
ECOS works with any nonprofit, NGO, community, or individual in need which could be helped through appropriate and sustainable engineering. We work with groups from HIV/AIDS orphanages in Honduras to Child Care Centers in Columbus. Each project has a Project Leader who is supported by various senior ECOS officers, including the President, the VPs of Local and International Projects, communications and financial officers, our Faculty Advisory Committee, and Professional Engineers from Battelle Engineers for Community Service (BECOS) and other engineering firms. Our goal is to work to provide OSU students (of all majors) with a wide range of technical service projects which exercise their technical knowledge, leadership skills, and social understanding. This can be done through independent ECOS projects or projects absorbed into the College of Engineering or Office of International Affairs. There are many advantages and disadvantages to projects with course-credit attached. Thus, we try to offer a diverse range of options and formats for technical service.

The purpose of this blog:
We - the President or VP, VP of Local Projects, and VP of International Projects - all do a fair amount of strategic planning to further the ever-evolving vision of ECOS. Each of these three officers are responsible for posting one short weekly post to this blog describing such behind the scenes planning and vision evolutions which would normally go unseen. This is also a place for senior leaders to showcase the work of exceptional project leaders and significant milestones of successful projects. We hope requiring weekly posts will both keep these senior officers accountable as well as allow new members, professionals, and faculty to stay informed on their own schedule. At the most basic level, it is a place to get to know three new people behind ECOS each year.

I will be graduating and moving away from ECOS in less than two months. In the future, I hope you will enjoy this blog as much as I will.

Regards,
Eric
President, ECOS

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