Engineering for development: An international service learning collaboration

This paper describes a collaboration between the PUCP in Lima, Peru and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) in which engineering students from the United States travelled to Peru to participate in collaborative engineering projects with rural communities. Two projects were completed in the community of Paru Paru, near Cusco, Peru, in July 2012 and July 2013. The UNCC students participated in the projects as a component of a course entitled, "Engineering for Development Workers." The students arrived in Lima, Peru, attended theoretical and practical seminars on the PUCP campus, and then traveled to Paru Paru, where they designed reinforced concrete bridges which were constructed in collaboration with community members (2012) and a local municipality (2013). This article describes the program activities and the lessons learned by the collaborating professors and students, illustrates the value of a study abroad experience, and emphasizes the importance of community service learning projects as essential elements for the integral formation of engineering students.