Join the IIT Engineering Themes Initiative (Water | Health | Energy | Security) and the IIT Chapter of Engineers Without Borders for a presentation titled “The Rewards of Working in Global Health and International Development” on Tuesday, October 15 from 12:45-1:45 pm in the Perlstein Hall Auditorium. The discussion will be presented by Michael Cipoletti, (BA, Stonehill College, ‘99; MBA, Boston University, ‘05), a founding member and the Director of Friends New England, a non-profit organization that exists to provide aid, care, and support for the needy, locally, nationally and internationally, with an emphasis on sustainable development on behalf of the poor with current projects in Nicaragua and Peru.

While attending Northport High School, Cipoletti was an active member of Students for 60,000, a organization founded in the late 1980s to work in solidarity with New York City’s 60,000+ homeless population. In 1992, the high school began student trips to Nicaragua and in 1996, he coordinated with the Director of Students to offer an alumni trip to Nicaragua. This trip was the beginning of Cipoletti’s 17 years of work in Nicaragua and later with Peru.

FriendsNE was born out of a discussion between Cipoletti and both current and founding FNE board members after he participated in a medical relief trip to Haiti following the earthquake in 2010. The trip inspired Cipoletti to suggest a partnership between the other project participants which would link the work in Haiti to existing projects in Nicaragua. He leads service trips to Nicaragua and Peru multiple times a year for students, families, service groups, and health care professionals, and currently partners with IIT’s student chapter of Engineers Without Borders on a bridge design and development project for the community of San Claudio in Nicaragua.

RSVP here. Note: This presentation will provide IIT Engineering Themes Credit for Health and Security.