Ask HN: Is there a demand for volunteer Engineers abroad?

1 points by nabilt 10y ago ↗ HN

I'm interested in other peoples first hand experiences volunteering abroad as a software Engineer. Organizations like Engineers Without Boarders tend to be looking for Civil or power systems Engineers to help with construction projects while groups like the Peace Corps look for health or education experts. I imagine there must be a need for software Engineers to do data analysis, tech development for field work or software development to aid in disaster recovery. Any suggestions?

3 comments

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mtmail 10y ago ↗

https://hotosm.org/ sends people abroad to help building maps for disaster planning. Most of the work is teaching.

nabilt 10y ago ↗

Thanks, I'll check it out. I didn't know they build a humanitarian organization around the open source project. I remember reading about the great work they did mapping Haiti after the earthquake to help first responds navigate the roads.

FrankSherbert 10y ago ↗

If you were an actual engineer then yeah those organizations would certainly be interested (but you aren't)