Wayne State mechanical engineering senior Kathryn Maloney prepares for volunteer trip to Central America to repair medical equipment.

Kathryn Maloney, a mechanical engineering senior, will be traveling to Central America this summer to work with Engineering World Health (EWH), a non-profit organization. There she will be placed with a local hospital where she will fix broken medical equipment that has been donated, as well as train the hospital staff in the use of the equipment.

"I read about the Engineering World Health summer institute on the Pathways to Science Web site and thought that it sounded like a great volunteer program," says Maloney. "They are the only organization that coordinates the delivery of medical equipment with engineers to install the equipment and train the staff. Most of these hospitals have no support staff for their equipment, so if anything breaks, or when they receive donated inoperative medical equipment, it is sent to storage."

Maloney does not yet know whether she will be sent to Honduras or Nicaragua, but the first portion of the program is spent in Costa Rica doing intensive language training for the first part of the day and medical instrumentation training for the second part of the day.

Maloney says she hopes that her time in Central America will make an impact. "Many of these hospitals are lacking crucial equipment, such as an infant incubator," says Maloney. "I hope to successfully fix a piece of fundamental equipment that would be very valuable to the hospital's services."

Maloney is still trying to raise funds for her trip that will help cover the cost of airfare, emergency medical coverage, and Spanish language and medical instrumentation training, among other things. Through EWH funding, donations, and fundraising events, she has secured $4511, but still needs to raise $3989. Maloney asks that her fellow students donate anything they can - even just $5 or $10 - to help her meet her goal. There will be a box in the SHPE Room (Room 3214) for donations or you can visit Maloney's blog for donation instructions.