Professional engineers are expected to fill the role of technical experts in the proven methods that are used and to communicate with students and community members.
The three levels of participation which are used by Engineers without Borders are as follows: low (monetary contribution), middle (manual labor), and high (decision making and leadership positions).
[14] Projects of this nature can be extremely difficult, as the presence of biological barriers can prevent workers from making major environmental changes.
The model of education that Engineers Without Borders uses is called service learning, which consists of students getting experience by building infrastructure in struggling third world communities.
One example of this model of teaching was the Engineering in Developing Countries (EDC) program at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The program had students from both engineering and non-engineering disciplines address a wide range of issues such as water provisioning, food production, health, and shelter.
[19] There are an increasing rate of cases where students create prototypes by using natural resources including wood, mud, and the land itself.
This program has worked closely with Engineers without Borders to build infrastructure out of wood and use the resources that are provided in the natural world.
[20] Another example of students using natural resources is through mud brick constructions which consist of cost savings, thermal mass, eco friendliness, self-satisfaction, and aesthetics.
Mud bricks have become a process and method for engineering students to help build and rebuild communities that have been destroyed by natural or manmade disasters.