SMU Engineering Students: Making a Difference in Africa

Engineering Prof. Andrew Quicksall and graduate students are in Africa researching water quality in refugee camps.

SMU engineers in Africa

Graduate students in SMU's Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering and Andrew Quicksall, the J. Lindsay Embrey Trustee Assistant Professor at the Lyle School, are in Africa this fall as part of a new water quality research program in refugee camps.

The group is bringing back water samples for analysis in SMU labs, where undergraduate and graduate students are searching for elevated levels of contaminants that can cause health problems.

"I have met with staffs from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the implementing partners, and the Office of the Prime Minister at each location," Quicksall writes in his blog, which includes numerous photos.  "By the end of each stop, everyone has been completely positive and is eager to have us back."

Quicksall’s research into water quality in the Central Africa is funded by a grant from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as well as support from SMU.

Read the full blog and see the photos.

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