Sustainable energy: A bridge between engineering, developing nations and inner-city youth

BRIDGE (Building Resources and Innovative Designs for Global Energy) is a project of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). Since 2006 the BRIDGE Project at the University of Minnesota has been impacting students and communities across the state of Minnesota and around the world. Participants create designs for renewable energy systems from scrap, waste, or found materials. They use these designs as an easily understandable foundation for outreach in Minneapolis High Schools, bringing engineering concepts and methods to life for at-risk students. Ultimately, the designs become the core for collaborations in developing nations to implement renewable energy systems in remote communities. The BRIDGE Project employs a holistic approach to learning, using authentic pedagogy and community service to engage students in work that highlights the world-changing potential of engineering and puts students on the front lines of engineering in action. Everyone involved, from the university students of the National Society of Black Engineers, to the minority high school students, to the BRIDGE partners in economically depressed Nicaragua, take equal ownership in the project which, while educational, is ultimately a collaboration of people helping each other to reach a meaningful goal.