Each year, the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering (FABE) at The Ohio State University awards over $100,000 in scholarships to its undergraduate and graduate students, helping them in their academic endeavors both in the classroom and out.
This past summer, biological engineering major Ben Prochaska made good use of these generous gifts by helping him pay for a humanitarian engineering trip to Tanzania, where he worked on a long term program aimed at delivering clean water to the village of Marwa.
Prochaska, also majoring in political science, was looking for a chance to put his skills into practice rather than simply in theory. That's where he met Dr. Patrick Sours, Faculty Lead of the Humanitarian Engineering Program and Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in FABE, who explained how he could gain that experience, an eye-opening discovery for Prochaska.
"It was just sort of a lightbulb moment," he explained. "I couldn't believe I'd never heard of this."
Prochaska immediately enrolled in the humanitarian engineering minor and began taking courses. He even went on a trip to Guatemala through the program in March 2023 where his group installed a rain gauge and water and temperature monitoring system.
"In the humanitarian engineering program, you get to work with people who care about improving the world for others," said Prochaska. "The coursework is very interesting and has a practical element that you don't get anywhere else."
During the 2024 spring semester, Prochaska enrolled in "Sustainable and Resilient Tanzanian Communities," which is the first step in preparing students for their trip to Tanzania. The class spent the semester planning for the engineering side of the project and learning about the history and culture of Tanzania as well as the community of Marwa, along with picking up some Swahili to converse with the local population all while representing Ohio State on an international scale.
To actually travel to Tanzania, however, the costs would reach several thousand dollars. With the help of Sours, Prochaska was able to access funds from the College of Engineering and FABE, specifically from the Joehlin family, who have established an endowed scholarship, to make sure he could go on this incredible trip.
"I would like to give a huge thank you to the Joehlin family," said Prochaska. "Once my funding was secured and I could for sure go on the trip, it was such a relief and I was so excited."
The group's primary objective on the trip was to map out points so that fresh water could be tapped for the village of Marwa. It had to be strategically placed so that everyone in the village could have easy access, and the group had to work with the Village Council and the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA) to execute the planning.
"It was extremely valuable to be able to design something as an undergrad and get it to the level of implementation," he said. "The projects we're working on are long-term, and through the humanitarian engineering program you get a sense that you're contributing to something that's physical and is going to happen."
While the team wasn't planning for equal water distribution in the village, they played soccer games with the local kids, went to shops, had a community meal , and visited a national park. Prochaska came back to America on August 10 and started right back up for his senior year.
"I still talk with the people I've met in Guatemala and Tanzania about visiting America and how we can make the world a better place," explained Prochaska. "I think that's not really something you can get in most other programs at Ohio State period, let alone engineering."
To apply for a FABE scholarship, visit the department website.