Students from the Marquette University Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Engineers Without Borders (EWB) organization have gained the support of Alpha Source Inc. in their efforts to assemble defibrillator battery test kits for distribution and use in hospitals of developing countries.

Alpha Source will purchase the unassembled defibrillator battery test kits from the charitable organization Engineering World Health (EWH). The kits will be used to test the electrical charge levels of defibrillators. Once assembled and tested, EWH will forward the kits to partner hospitals directly or through students participating in the EWH Summer Institute, which offers engineering, physics, and chemistry college students the opportunity to get hands-on repair and design experience while simultaneously helping disadvantaged hospitals and patients at facilities in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Tanzania.

"A part of our corporate mission is to work with charitable organizations that focus on providing quality health care worldwide," said Alpha Source President Norine Carlson-Weber. "When I was introduced to the EWH program and the opportunity to engage young minds in the process, I wanted to make an impact and get involved."

By working on the project, Marquette and MSOE students not only get basic soldering and electrical circuit experience through assembling and testing the kits, but they also receive exposure to global health care improvement initiatives.