UTEP students build portable charging station for hurricane victims in Puerto Rico

It’s been nearly two years since Puerto Rico was hit by two hurricanes destroying many parts of the island and leaving millions without electricity.

After a service learning trip to Puerto Rico last summer, several UTEP students who are volunteering their free time are hoping to make a difference.

“So we came up with the idea of creating this portable charging station,” said Dr. Ivonne Santiago, a civil engineering professor at UTEP.

It’s called the ‘portable charging oasis.’ The plan is to provide 1500 watts of power to people who are still in need of electricity.

“What really drew me to this project was the fact that we were going to use solar energy a sustainable energy sustainable resource to help communities,” said Daniel Castillo, a recent UTEP graduate who continues to volunteer his free time working on the project.

Dr. Santiago is Puerto Rico native and El Paso Engineer of the Year from 2019.

“One of the things that always on the back of our minds was how can we help in power outages,” Santiago said.

This portable station will be powered by four large solar panels that in and out like drawers.

Once completed it will have outlets and USB outlets attached to it, a WIFI hotspot and even a mini fridge for medication like insulin.

The goal is to get the aluminum made station to the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao, located in the eastern part of the island.

“There plan is to have it on campus in the middle of campus where’s so students can use it…and of course, whenever there’s an emergency or a community that needs electricity, than they will take it to the community,” Santiago said.

If all goes well, Santiago and her students hope to make more stations like the oasis.

“The idea is to replicate this and the students are working on the marketing aspect of it. We want to be sustainable,” Santiago said.

“We want this unit to really last,” Castillo said.

The charging stations is expected to be completed in the next week or so.

The students still need more funding to help ship the charging station and are relying on the community’s support.

If you would like to help, you can make a check out to the UTEP Department of Civil Engineering. In the description just add ‘service learning – charging oasis.’

For more details call the UTEP Department of Civil Engineering at 915-747-5464.