More than 30 engineering students from Texas A&M University are helping in the Hurricane Harvey recovery effort by participating in a 10-day volunteer internship with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The students will be paired with mentors from the agency and sent out into the field to assess public infrastructure — ranging from roads and bridges to wastewater treatment plants and other public facilities — as part of the agency’s public assistance program.
Herman Zepeta, a class of ’20 mechanical engineering major, said although his family in the Cypress area did not experience the direct damage that some of their neighbors did during the storm, seeing the effects first-hand inspired him to get involved.
“Just being able to help out is something I’m really taking pride in,” Zepeta said. “I feel like the benefits completely outweigh giving time from my vacation. … As soon as I saw the opportunity, I really wanted to do it, because I really think it’s interesting to see how people go into these disasters head first and how they work to recover from it.”
You can read the full article here: Texas A&M engineering students to work with FEMA in assessing Harvey damage