Our Story

Who we are

Engineers for a Sustainable World @ Cornell (ESW @ Cornell) is a project team focused on designing environmentally-conscious solutions to the world's problems. ESW @ Cornell, the first chapter in what is now an international nonprofit, was founded in 2001, and since then, has pursued dozens of innovative and exciting projects.

What we do

ESW @ Cornell is structured into three major divisions: Resource Renewal and Outreach, Carbon Neutrality, and Renewable Energy Solutions. Each division comprises multiple sub-teams, which allows every member to get design, building, and communication experience. In doing so, we hope to create positive community impacts and provide our team members with the skills necessary for future careers in sustainability and engineering.

Representing six colleges and 19 majors, ESW @ Cornell members are currently leading 15 separate projects that tackle almost every aspect of sustainability. Project highlights include:

• Building a small-scale solar desalination device
• Building a portable sustainability museum
• Designing a wave energy converter
• Quantifying power consumption from energy-intensive devices on campus, including laboratory fume hoods, using a fume hood energy dashboard
• Building a web application to track and document food waste data from campus dining halls
• Developing a coffee shop cup product to avoid plastic cup waste 
• Finalizing elementary and high school curricula on climate change and various renewable energies as part of community outreach

For more information about each of our projects, please visit our website: esw.engineering.cornell.edu

Why donate

Environmental concerns like climate change, pollution, overconsumption, and more become increasingly urgent each day. Therefore, it is crucial to act now if we hope to maintain a planet where we can survive and thrive.

ESW @ Cornell does this by empowering students to forge innovative and lasting solutions to sustainability problems at all scales. Your donations will fund our numerous engineering outreach projects and increase our impact by preparing our team members to become effective and sustainably-minded professionals. Please consider donating to ESW-Cornell, and help us leave a maximally positive impact on our environment as we work to cultivate a brighter future.

Thank you!