Environmental engineering major Kylie Short has a packed schedule. She is pursuing minors in mathematics and environmental humanities and conducting carbon analysis research in Yu-Ping Chin’s lab. Outside of her academic work, she participates in Engineers Without Borders (EWB), a nonprofit that supports community-led development worldwide by designing and carrying out sustainable engineering projects. Kylie is part of a team partnering with a Malawian village to assess and fix a deteriorating bridge.

Q: Tell us a bit about your involvement in EWB.

Short: Participation in EWB starts at the beginning of the semester and continues throughout the following summer. We have general meetings every week, and project teams meet outside those hours.

I’m on the structures team. The Malawi bridge is our current project, and the team will continue to work on it for probably the next five years, even after I graduate. I work with the hydrology part of it, modeling the drainage area and stormwater events. I spend about five hours a week on my project.

The deteriorating bridge in Chilimani village, Malawi. Courtesy of Kylie Short

Q: What did you do on your recent visit to Malawi?

Short: We spent seven days assessing a deteriorating bridge in the Chilimani village. They experience severe flooding during the winter months. The bridge deck is being swept out almost every five years.

We performed a qualitative and quantitative analysis, which included measuring stress on the bridge, taking velocity tests on the water and generally gauging the status of the bridge. This will help determine whether we repair the bridge, heighten it or completely move it upstream or downstream.

Q: While in Malawi, did you have a chance to travel or experience the local culture?

Short: We had a stringent schedule, so we didn’t go on safari or visit tourist areas. We went into the local community, which I found even more fun because we got to meet and talk with people who were actually affected by the bridge deterioration.

The biggest way we immersed ourselves in the culture was through food. We ate in the village. They prepared nsima, which is similar to fufu. They used it to dip into fish stew or goat soup. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. It came after a long day of field work, with a lot of the community coming out to help us.

Eating with the community after a long day of field work. Courtesy of Kylie Short

Short: I love music. Musical theater is probably my biggest passion aside from engineering. When I was in second grade in southern Delaware, we went to a theater company in Dover and saw the musical Seussical. That was the moment I knew one day I wanted to get on stage. I joined theater in middle school and continued in high school. Junior year I ended up performing in Seussical!

I actually came to UD with a major in English and anthropology and switched to environmental engineering my freshman spring. So I gravitate toward the humanities outside of school. I read a lot, I do arts and crafts with my friends, and I love gardening.