SGH Staff Heading to Uganda for Engineers Without Borders

Senior Principal Tim McGrath and a team of Northeastern students will travel to the village of Bbanda to continue working towards building and maintaining a water supply system. 

WALTHAM, Mass. - April 27, 2010 -Tim McGrath, a senior principal at national engineering firm Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. (SGH), will be traveling to Uganda in May as part of the Engineers Without Borders-Northeastern University chapter (EWB-NEU) (www.ewb.neu.edu).

McGrath is the professional mentor to a team of Northeastern students traveling to help the village of Bbanda to establish a Water Board that will lead to water system construction and then oversee the system's operations and maintenance. "Sustainability is the key with these types of projects," McGrath said, noting that the Water Board's oversight is a critical element in the project's long-term viability. Bbanda is about four hours west of Kampala, Uganda's capital. The team will be leaving May 2 and will be gone for 10 days.

This is Northeastern's second trip to the village. During the first trip, they assessed the current water supply situation, interviewed residents, and discussed the villager's current state of health. The village is located "in a rural area and the people living there often spend an hour traveling to get water from a limited number of inadequate sources," according to the EWB-NEU web site. "Twenty-liter jerry cans are the most popular method of transporting water, and the villagers must make multiple trips just to have enough for their daily activities of washing, cooking, and drinking."

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Media Contact: Franceen Shaughnessy, Corporate Marketing Specialist, fashaughnessy@sgh.com, 781-907-9114.

About Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc.

Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. (SGH) is a national engineering firm that designs, investigates, and rehabilitates structures and building enclosures. Our award-winning work encompasses building, transportation, water/wastewater, and nuclear/science/defense projects throughout the United States and in more than 30 other countries. 

SGH has offices in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.sgh.com.