Two engineering non-profits staffed by thousands of industry volunteer practitioners, students and others—Engineers Without Borders USA and Engineering World Health—have combined operations to strengthen their capacity to build infrastructure in resource-poor global communities. 

Founded in 2002 by a civil engineering professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, EWB-USA has grown from a handful of engineers who installed a waterfall-powered clean water system for 950 Mayan Indians in Belize to 14,000 volunteers working on 350 engineering projects across the globe. More than 5 million people around the world have been impacted through its efforts, according to the organization's website. Volunteer engineers and biomedical professionals working with EWH have installed and repaired life-saving equipment in resource-poor hospitals in Asia, Africa and Latin America, providing more than $30 million in services since the organization's inception in 2004.