Guanajuato, Gto., March 11, 2016. With the intention to help the people of the communities that lack water service, Carlos Ignacio Aguilera González, Engineering student from the University of Guanajuato (UG), works in a project to "harvest" rain water, and store it to satisfy the basic needs in housing.

Last year, the student from Campus Guanajuato joined Dr. Daniel Tagle Zamora's project, who is ascribed to the Department of Social Studies in UG's Campus Leon, to develop a project that from engineering would develop to solve a social problem: the shortage of water.

Both had the opportunity to work as team thanks to the program "Scientific Research Summers," and as a result, Carlos Ignacio created a device that allows to filter polluted rain water, to store only the one that can be used by the families.

On the matter, the engineering student explained that the intention always was to create a low-cost device, so they opted to build it with PVC. "It is something quite simple; it is nothing new; the difference is that it is very affordable," he highlighted.

He added that usually, rain water gets dirty when it touches contaminated spaces, such as roofs. The "harvester" harvests that liquid, it means, functions as a filter, and the clean water are stored in water tank, water cisterns or any other container that might exist in the houses.

The experience to work in a Research Summer was so gratifying for Carlos Ignacio, that in this 2016 he decided to subscribe again, to make a second stage of the project. Now he will focus in determining the quality of rain water collected and define the uses it might have.

This time, the will work with Dr. Luz Adriana Arias Hernández, from the Department of Geomatics and Hydraulics, Engineering Division of Campus Guanajuato.

For the UG student, it is a priority that his research has a social impact; therefore, in addition of analyzing the characteristics of rain water; he pretends to explore alternatives to make it apt for human consumption.

About his participation in UG Summers, he points out that in this program, you learn to work as a team and develop research, in a more professional plane. "I discovered that research is not easy, you have to dedicate a lot of time, but it is very gratifying," he affirms.

In the personal level, working in the rain-water harvest project helped him define his thesis project, and discover what he wants to dedicate his professional life to "somehow this experience changed my life, because I discovered what I want to do," hence-he affirms—to participate in a Research Summer is something that a student must not miss.

Currently, there are five modalities of UG's Scientific Research Summers, which receive students from high school and varsity, and it is open for students from all the country.

The students who are interested in participating have until March 17th to subscribe. In case of being accepted, they'll perform a stay from June 13th to July 15th to develop their project, and receive an economic aid.

To know the distinct modalities, requirements and important dates, you can check the page www.veranos.ugto.mx