About a year ago I was browsing the internet to find internships in the Biomed field. I stumbled across a website for Engineering World Health that described a summer program where you get hands-on experience repairing medical equipment in another country. This caught my interest right away and I e-mailed the organization immediately asking how I could be a part of that summer program. They informed me that I should start a chapter of the club at my school since we did not yet have one going. I was a little intimidated by this prospect.
Fortunately God had His plan all worked out and He provided Tim, a fellow Cal Poly student who was also enthusiastic about starting a chapter at Cal Poly. So we got in contact via e-mail and decided to tackle the process of starting a new chapter.
Fortunately God had His plan all worked out and He provided Tim, a fellow Cal Poly student who was also enthusiastic about starting a chapter at Cal Poly. So we got in contact via e-mail and decided to tackle the process of starting a new chapter.
Winter quarter 2009 we began the long process of recruiting members and sorting out the paperwork. We became an officially chartered club in Fall 2009 and saw great interest on the Cal Poly campus. Since then we have formed contacts with Direct Relief International, a non-profit based in Santa Barbara with similar goals of providing developing countries with much-needed medical equipment, as well as contacts with local hospitals for equipment donations.
At each turn we see the club growing with leaps and bounds, and the interest of the students and community in our club never ceases to amazing me! We are working on a design for a national design competition and have completed a couple of build-it days where we put together defibrillator testers to send overseas. I am excited to see how the club will grow as the year finishes out and in the coming year.