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= Overview =
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[[File:Engineering World Health Logo.png|frame|right|Engineering World Health Logo.png]] [http://www.ewh.org/ Engineering World Health] (EWH) is a non-profit organization mobilizing the biomedical engineering community to improve the quality of health care in hospitals serving resource-poor communities in developing countries. Founded in 2001 by Robert Malkin and Mohammed Kiani in Memphis, Tennessee, Engineering World Health now serves a global community. EWH aids in donated and new medical equipment installation, equipment repairs, and provides training to biomedical technicians in order to build local capacity to both manage and maintain medical equipment. The head office is now located in Durham, North Carolina.
To accomplish their goals, Engineering World Health focuses on two main program branches. The first program branch is the [http://www.ewh.org/programs/chapters student programs], which includes university Chapters, Kit builds, STEM volunteer teaching, the annual Design Competition, and the Summer Institute. Each program raises awareness of how biomedical engineering can help solve global health challenges, and works to engage the skills of engineering students from around the world to educate others and repair life-saving medical equipment in places like Rwanda, Tanzania, and Nicaragua.
In exchange for an annual fee to support the local chapter, the EWH provides comprehensive packages of financial benefits, guidance on how to operate a chapter and manage numerous activities that are interesting, fun and beneficial to the community, as well as technical support throughout the year. Chapter members are also eligible for travel awards to participate in joint activities with other chapters, either domestically or in developing countries.
[[File:UCSD EWH.jpeg|frame|right|UCSD EWH.jpeg]]
At the University of California San Diego (UCSD), the EWH chapter is working in collaboration with the [http://cfar.ucsd.edu/ UCSD Center for AIDS Research] and designing cost-effective lab equipment to run an HIV treatment analysis in resource-limited settings. This nucleic acid test is used to detect drug resistant forms of HIV. By introducing methods of treatment surveillance to the developing world, the hope is to contain the spread of drug-resistant forms of HIV and preserve second and third lines of anti-retroviral medication. EWH at UCSD has begun work to design automated devices for viral RNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA amplification, and gel electrophoresis.
[[File:Duke EWH.jpeg|frame|right|Duke EWH.jpeg]]
At Duke University, the EWH affiliate student team spent the summer in Guatemala where they helped hospitals and clinics repair medical equipment at the National Hospital de Quetzaltenango in Xela. “The goal of the trip was to help a poor hospital in Guatemala repair and maintain their medical equipment,” said Robert Malkin, founder and director of Duke-Engineering World Health. The students worked as a team on all projects and took turns diagnosing issues, repairing & cleaning equipment and keeping records on all the equipment they worked on.
[http://www.ewh.org/blog Engineering World Health Blog] also posts regular updates about their programs around the world. Additionally, the [https://www.facebook.com/engineeringworldhealth?v=wall Facebook ]and [https://twitter.com/EngrWorldHealth Twitter] pages provide a good sense of EWH's day-to-day activities.
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