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Richard Herring, executive director of Engineers without Borders-USA, will give a talk about the organization noon today, in Acopian Engineering Center room 315.
The event is free and open to the campus community. Lunch will be provided.
The talk is intended to bolster an initiative to start a campus chapter of Engineers Without Borders. Those interested in such a group should contact David Brandes, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, at x5441 or brandesd@lafayette.edu and Fidel Maltez, a civil engineering major from Hialeah, Fla., at x4261 or maltezf@lafayette.edu.
Engineers Without Borders-USA is a non-profit organization established in 2000 to help developing areas worldwide with their engineering needs, while involving and training a new kind of internationally responsible engineering student. Projects involve the design and construction of water, wastewater, sanitation, energy, and shelter systems. These projects are initiated by, and completed with, contributions from the host community, which is trained to operate the systems without external assistance. In this way, EWB-USA ensures that its projects are appropriate and self-sustaining.
This summer and fall, more than 50 students from various United States schools will be involved in Engineers Without Borders-USA projects in Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Thailand, Haiti, Belize, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, and Peru. The projects are conducted by groups of students under the supervision of faculty and professional engineers from partnering engineering firms.
Herring earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Lehigh University in 1960, and master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from University of Colorado in 1962 and 1964, respectively.
From 1998-2001, he served as CEO/COO of Spectral Solutions, Inc., a cellular telephone enhancement product using Stirling cycle refrigerators and high-temperature superconductor filters and low noise pre-amplifiers to extend the range and capacity of cellular base stations. He worked from 1997-98 at Videant International, Inc., a private consulting company focused on commercial remote sensing. He was CEO of EarthWatch, Inc., from 1995-97, guiding the start-up company that was spun out of Ball Aerospace and Technologies Co. During this period, it grew to 120 employees and was successful in raising outside financing of $70 million in private placements and $50 million in high-yield debt.
Herring held several positions at Ball Aerospace and Technology Co. from 1968-95, including senior vice president of strategic management (1991-95), CEO (1987-91), president of the Aerospace Division (1985-87), and vice president of science instruments and spacecraft (1980-85). His prior assignments involved marketing, project work, and research and development. He worked at Beech Aircraft from 1965-68.
Herring lives on a small farm with his wife near Longmont, Colo. He has one child in college and three older children who are married.