Partner Profiles

Imperial College students

The ten students from Imperial College were involved in every stage of the project process. They wereadvised throughout by Dr Julian Bommer, Senior Tutor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an expert in earthquake engineering, who has been involved in projects in El Salvador since 1986. The students have been involved in the fundraising for travel and living costs and will carry out the majority of the practical work in El Salvador. They each completed a project on a specific aspect of adobe construction prior to the trip and have written a post-project report.

Dominic Dowling

A graduate of The University of Technology, Sydney, and winner of the 2002 EERI (Earthquake Engineer-ing Research Institute) student paper prize, Dominic is now a PhD research student studying the earthquake resistance of adobe structures. He has significant development experience in El Salvador,Nicaragua and Costa Rica, involving collaboration with local and international volunteers and beneficiaries. Dominic recently visited El Salvador, funded by EERI, to investigate the reconstruction response to the earthquakes of 2001, with particular emphasis on adobe housing. During this time he met with Dr Bommer (in El Salvador at the same time on a Royal Academy funded field investigation) and together they visited and liaised with various communities in El Salvador, laying the foundations for this project. Dominic acted as technical advisor during the project preparation, construction and documentation
phases.

Universidad de El Salvador (UES)

Engineering students from UES were actively involved in the preparation for the project, including materials procurement, community liaison and analysing of soils and adobe blocks. They have been testing soil and adobe samples collected during the visits to Estanzuelas in April. The results were used alongside the research undertaken by the students in the UK. The UES stu-
dents were supported and supervised by Ms Susan Campos, a lecturer at UES, and it was decided that a group of UES students would work alongside the Imperial College students in the field.

Universidad Centroamericana (UCA)

Lecturers from the Department of Structural Mechanics at UCA, who have run many courses on earth-quake engineering, ran a one day workshop especially for the UK students on adobe construction upon their arrival in San Salvador.

Communities of Estanzuelas

The mayor of Estanzuelas, Wilber Solano, and the Alcadia (local council) will be funding the running of the day-care centre.They also assisted in the procurement of land, organisation of materials and tools, sourcing of appropriate accommodation for the students and ensuring adequate community participation, understanding and support. The community of Condadillo were actively involved in the project, from the design and siting of the day-care centre, through its construction, to the management and maintenance of the finished facility.