Engineering and philanthropy; at first glance, these two pursuits seem unrelated. Yet junior co-presidents Aarav Motwani and Chelsea Liu combined them to create MechAction, a club that turns ideas into community action.

“‘Mech’ is for mechanical engineering,” Motwani said. “‘Action’ is [for] doing something for the community. This year, I hope to have projects that will benefit the community in some way.”

Motwani’s engineering enthusiasm began at a young age.

“I’ve always had a passion for engineering and playing with [toys like] Lego bricks,” Motwani said. “I wanted to start something at a school where we could have people come together and do things they like.”

The club hopes to give kids the opportunity to take engineering into their own hands.

“We hope to accomplish these little build kits for the local library and elementary schools,” Liu said. “[They are] a way for engineering to meet community service: letting little kids experience the joy of putting something together in an easy and accessible manner.”

In addition to its outreach efforts, MechAction gives students the chance to compete with one another.

“I wanted to [make] a moving library cart for Mrs. Mathur because she’s always moving around heavy books,” Motwani said. “It depends on how many people we have and if it’s manageable. Right now, we’re starting off with a small project, making a glider plane and seeing how far it can go, competition-wise.”

Students interested in engineering and eager to make a change are welcome to join MechAction, which meets every Tuesday in C-01, Allan Prescott’s room. 

“You don’t have to have any experience,” Motwani said. “[MechAction] offers you the ability to learn and grow [through] hands-on experience using the machines and different engineering softwares. You’ll really enjoy engineering and it’ll open your eyes to something different.”