One semester of EPICS launched ABE alum’s career in global access to clean water
One semester changed Jacob Niemeier’s life.
Niemeier (BSABE ’12) took part in a mission trip to Haiti over the 2010-11 winter break after a devastating earthquake and was moved by the struggle to access clean, potable water. A woman walked by him with a jug of brown, dirt-filled water, and he knew it couldn’t be safe to drink.
Niemeier was already interested in water quality and natural resources, but the firsthand experience motivated Niemeier to plunge more deeply into his major: agricultural and biological engineering — and minor in environmental and ecological engineering — to change lives.
“I saw the need of the impoverished people (in Haiti) and the need for clean water, the need to address that affront to their human dignity,” said Niemeier, from Indianapolis. “The global water crisis and the reality that two billion people are lacking access to clean water was the catalyst to the EPICS project that came next.”
EPICS was founded in 1995 to bridge the gap between the technical skills learned in the classroom and the gambit of communication, teamwork and design skills ideal for real-world engineering solutions. The community aspect connects college students to real people who will be affected by their designs, enriching the engineering curriculum with communication, context and application.
Sometimes, projects are local to West Lafayette, Indiana. Other times, in Niemeier’s case, clients and beneficiaries are countries away.
Niemeier spent one semester in EPICS in spring 2011 as lead engineer. He pitched the project the team would bring to life: a low-cost water storage container made from affordable and globally accessible household products. There was no project partner: Niemeier wanted to have a solution for anyone who wanted it. He had watched children in Haiti set out on a walk of at least a mile one way to fill the family water jug, carrying the heavy container back on their heads or shoulders. The process was a daily occurrence.
The EPICS project consisted of developing a lightweight container with a duct tape frame and layer of sealant inside to prevent leaks. It would be easy to repair, less strenuous to wield and would hold more water than the well-worn plastic containers that were used at the time.
“The big three facets of that project were low cost, easy creation and easy repair,” Niemeier said. “Creativity is so important in developing countries where they don't have the same level of technology and resources that we have (in the United States).”
While the project never went past the prototyping stage due to time constraints on Niemeier’s schedule, EPICS gave Niemeier a glimpse of the impact he could make as an engineer. And that, as a professional, he had what it took to lead a team and build something new.
After graduating in 2012, Niemeier founded nonprofit Vera Aqua Vera Vita to continue promoting the dignity of all people with access to clean water by testing water quality, digging trenches for piping and installing long-term filtration systems. The projects have positively impacted four rural villages in the Piura region located in the desert of northwestern Peru, starting with a project that served 7,000 people in Monte Castillo completed in 2019 documented on the organization’s site.
“When I took EPICS, I really discovered that I could lead a team well, pull out their gifts and strengths and leverage those to build a good project,” Niemeier said. “To be an engineer who can also inspire, motivate and empower has really set me up to embrace my calling and have a team by my side to do so.”