Where are you from? How long have you been in Detroit? I was born in Detroit 62 years ago and and lived in various cities in the Detroit Metropolitan Area.
What type of engineer are you? Electrical Engineering – During my career, the areas that I have focused on is instrumentation and controls in power plants; also high voltage, relay protection and controls in substations.
Where do you work and what is your role? I have retired from DTE Energy after 40 years of working in Electrical Power Stations, Transmission stations and Distribution substitutes . I worked closely with major customers including hospitals, manufacturing facilities, and steel production facilities.
How long have you been with EWB Detroit/EWB USA? I first started attending EWB meetings in 2015 and became interested in joining after I learned about the focus on implementing sustainable solutions in communities. I was impressed with the way EWB follows up on projects and continues to monitor and train individuals to ensure continuing success for the community.
What is your role with EWB Detroit/EWB USA? Currently I am the lead on the Sanitation Project in Nicaragua for the community of Laguna de Apoyo.
What is your most memorable/influential moment as a member of EWB? One moment that influenced me to become involved with EWB was during a water and sanitation workshop and truly understanding the magnitude of people throughout the world that lack safe drinking water and improved sanitation. The current numbers published in 2018 by the World Health Organization state that “over 844 million people live without access to clean drinking water and 2.3 billion live without access to improved sanitation”.
Do you have any “words of wisdom” for current EWB members? Projects can take a long time to get all the pieces into place, so be patient and don’t get discouraged. It took the the Nicaragua team over a year to get from the assessment phase into the design phase and receive approvals from the National EWB Board.