Eight individuals were recognized by the Michigan Technological University Alumni Board of Directors at its annual Alumni Dinner and Awards Ceremony Friday evening. The event was the centerpiece of the Alumni Reunion, which took place August 3-5, 2017.
Nicholas H. Schreiner is a recipient of the Humanitarian Award. The award honors alumni who, through their outstanding involvement and dedication, have made a significant contribution of volunteer leadership or service that has improved or enriched the lives of others and the welfare of humanity, and whose accomplishments reflect admirably on or bring honor to their alma mater.
Schreiner, who earned a master’s in environmental engineering at Michigan Tech, has served as a water and sanitation engineer with Medecins Sans Frontieres (also known as Doctors Without Borders). He was part of a team that responded to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014.
Schreiner came to Michigan Tech to learn and develop as an engineer but also to provide service to at-risk people and communities. He accepted the award on behalf of all of the people in need and serviced by Doctors without Borders.
The best decision I made was to come to Michigan Tech, in the out-of-the-way corner of the UP.
“And, I thank my parents for their unconditional love and support.”
Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Sarah Williams.
Humanitarian Engineering
Peace Corps Master’s International (PCMI) alumnus Nick Schreiner ’11 is an example of someone using his engineering skills to make an impact in some of the most troubled spots on the planet: fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone, supporting displaced populations in a Protection of Civilian (POC) zone in South Sudan, and working with refugee populations in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR).
I found my former Peace Corps service in Mauritania and Mali had planted a seed calling me to do something more with my life.
In fall 2014 as the Ebola epidemic continued to spiral, Schreiner was asked to join a MSF team in Sierra Leone.
“This was a different kind of insecurity,” he says. “You can’t see Ebola. It is both everywhere and nowhere.”