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Name: Therese Lane
Address: Business Manager
Phone: 520.621.6563
Email: theresel@email.arizona.edu

Civil Engineers Involved in Shady Business for a Good Cause

Civil engineering students, staff and faculty recently completed construction of a large shade structure for the nonprofit organization World Care, based in Tucson, Ariz..

The 7-person civil engineering and engineering mechanics departmental team was taking part in Cats in the Community, the UA's annual volunteer event that each year helps refurbish a local nonprofit organization. About 400 volunteers from across the UA helped paint, build, recycle and much more in what has become known as the "UA extreme nonprofit makeover."

Photo Gallery of Shade Construction

The recipient organization, World Care Civilian Emergency Relief Center, provides humanitarian aid in the areas of education, health, emergency relief, and environment to Southern Arizona and international communities that lack the resources necessary for daily life.

The UA Engineering team built the shade to provide a cool area for loading and unloading of donated materials. World Care's philosophy of recycling and reuse means that a vast variety of reusable items are brought to the facilities. These items are then fixed, cleaned and redistributed into the community.

Video of "UA extreme nonprofit makeover"

With aesthetic input from the UA visual communications department, the shade was designed, analyzed and constructed entirely by the civil engineering students Curtis Miles, Luis Madrid, Casey Quackenbush, Chris Leon and Kelsey Palmer, aided by department staff member Therese Lane and faculty member Robert Fleischman. Funding for the project was provided by the College of Engineering and Dean Jeff Goldberg.