Audra Helser ’08 Civil and Environmental Engineering

In July 2008, Audra Helser of Ashville, Ohio, began two years of service with the Peace Corps in Africa. She shared her story with News in Engineering via e-mail.

What are your responsibilities as a Peace Corps volunteer?

I am serving as a water and sanitation volunteer in the small village of Kouoro in the Sikasso region of Mali, West Africa. There are only 700 people in the village, so it is a very small community. I work closely with a young farmer named Abdoulaye Sogodoogo. My name in the village is Mariam Sogodogo. I speak Bambara, the local language of my village. Read more.

Halle Butvin ’05 M.S., City and Regional Planning

When Halle Butvin visited Uganda with a youth organization in 2006, she was prepared to see a nation scarred by a history of conflict and poverty. What she didn’t anticipate was finding what has become, at least for now, her life’s calling.

The women she met in districts like Gulu had skills but no jobs. Their children did not attend school. Their families could not afford to buy or build their own homes.

The experience planted in the city and regional planning alumna a seed of desire to help not only on an individual level but on a social and economic scale.

Three years later, that seed has grown into One Mango Tree, a social business Butvin launched for Ugandan women to design, sew and sell handbags, yoga supplies, home items and jewelry. To meet One Mango Tree’s two missions, profit and social impact, all earnings are reinvested in the company or similar social ventures.
Read more.

J. Adam Wilson, ’03 Electrical and Computer Engineering

J. Adam Wilson looks as if he’s preparing for a role as Professor Charles Xavier, the telepathic X-Men superhero of comic book, TV and movie fame.

Sitting in a research lab, Wilson wears a cap covered with electrodes for an EEG, or electroencephalograph, and wires that connect him to the computer in front of him.

With the Internet as his portal, he communicates with the world via the social networking tool Twitter, but he never touches the keyboard. Using a brain-computer interface that he developed, he sends a tweet — using only his thoughts.

The message, “USING EEG TO SEND TWEET,” certainly didn’t go unnoticed. Time magazine chose his brain-Twitter interface as the 9th best invention of 2009, and Popular Science included Wilson in its 2009 Brilliant 10 listing of outstanding young U.S. scientists. Read more.

Shawn Conyers, ’96 and M.A. ’98, Architecture

Shawn Conyers recalls his first weeks as a student in the Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture — especially an admonition he received.

“It was strongly recommended to me not to have a job or any extracurricular activities while pursuing my degree, since studying would require all of my time,” says Conyers.

Already a member of the Ohio State varsity wrestling team on academic and athletic scholarships, however, Conyers was undaunted.

“I am very proud that I was able to complete my architecture degrees while wrestling for five years at Ohio State, when others told me it couldn’t be done,” says Conyers.

Still today, Conyers is no stranger to hard work. His day begins at 5:30 a.m. He walks through the door of downtown Columbus’ Meyers + Associates Architecture, where he is senior associate, by 7:30 a.m. to get a jump on things before his team arrives. He confesses that he often forgets to eat lunch amidst drawing, coordinating projects with clients, phone calls, e-mails and meetings. He heads home around 5:30 p.m. to spend time with his family, sometimes tackling more work in the evenings to prepare for the next day, and falls into bed by midnight. Read more.