Sixteen Missouri University of Science and Technology students representing seven different majors are spending their last few days of classes preparing for their upcoming Engineers Without Borders journey to Solola, Guatemala.

The chapter’s return trip to this tiny village will focus on finishing the building of a second earthquake-resistant classroom -- adding a roof, stairway and electricity -- and repairing the school’s bathrooms.

Andrew Blair of Perryville, Mo., a senior in civil engineering, will return to Guatemala May 18-28 as the team’s leader after traveling with the EWB chapter last year. Also making the trip are two of Blair’s high school classmates: Philip Graf of Perryville, Mo., a senior in mechanical engineering, and Justin Ruessler of Perryville, Mo., a junior in architectural engineering. The three are 2005 graduates of St. Vincent High School from a class of 40 students.

Blair says he and Graf traveled to Guatemala last year, and Ruessler “jumped on board immediately” after transferring last fall from Southeast Missouri State University.

“Along with helping the students in Guatemala, I will get more familiar with what it takes to make a trip like this happen,” Ruessler explains. “I hope I will learn new skills from building the stairs, helping make the bathrooms better and masonry work, and putting a roof together.”

Paul Hamilton of Kansas City, Mo., has spent the last several months focusing on the project’s designs and is looking forward to making a return trip to Guatemala.

“There’s a need in Guatemala, and I have a skill set that’s pivotal toward increasing their standard of living,” Hamilton says. “It would be selfish to withhold what I have to offer.”

Dr. Eric Showalter, an advisor who will accompany the group to Guatemala, says the students’ designs center on simplicity and durability.

“In the United States, we can pump water and wastewater to get it where we want it; if the pump breaks, we’ll get a new one tomorrow,” he explains. “In many places, you try hard to use gravity flow because gravity works every day.”

Showalter, a lecturer in civil, architectural and environmental engineering at Missouri S&T, says EWB has some of the best students on campus. “I always tell employers that these are students they should be trying to recruit,” he adds.

Three professionals from Chicago will also join the EWB team, including relatives of the late Gavin Donohue, a Missouri S&T civil engineering student who was killed last summer by a drunk driver just weeks after he returned from Guatemala with EWB. Patrick Donohue, a professional engineer, and his wife, Kathy, a registered nurse, are traveling with the Missouri S&T chapter to honor their nephew. Juan Fraggoso, a professional engineer who works with Patrick Donohue, will also make the trip.

Students traveling to Guatemala include:

• Andrew B. Blair of Perryville, Mo., a senior in civil engineering
• Zach J. Brown of Festus, Mo., a senior in civil engineering
• Philip Brubaker of St. Robert, Mo., a freshman in computer engineering
• John P. Conroy of St. Louis, a junior in environmental engineering
• Philip Graf of Perryville, Mo., a senior in mechanical engineering
• Alyson Habermehl of Rolla, Mo., a senior in business management
• Paul B. Hamilton of Kansas City, Mo., a junior in civil engineering
• Brandon Kerr of Arbela, Mo., a senior in engineering management
• Daniel Kienitz of Belleville, Ill., a senior in civil engineering
• Andy Kornuta of Waynesville, Mo., a freshman in aerospace engineering
• David Malaway of Overland, Mo., a freshman in mechanical engineering
• Phillip McGee of Park Hills, Mo., a sophomore in environmental engineering
• Gabriel Olivo of St. Robert, Mo., a freshman in computer engineering
• Justin Ruessler of Perryville, Mo., a junior in architectural engineering
• William Strupp of Catawissa, Mo., a senior in engineering management

An additional 20 Missouri S&T students, members of the same EWB chapter, will leave May 18 for the rainforests of Bolivia, where they plan to build self-composting latrines, install LED study lights, and replace two pedestrian bridges.