Downingtown resident Arun Deb, an engineer who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania after retiring in 2003 from Weston Solutions, an environmental consulting firm in West Chester, has never stopped working on bringing clean water to his native India, writes Rita Giordano for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

At 84, Deb serves as an active board member with Global Water Alliance, an NGO (non-governmental organization) that works to increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation. He also mentors students and brings them to India to show them firsthand how environmental engineering can improve the lives of people around the world.

“I can never say Arun’s retired, because he’s always working,” said Stanley L. Laskowski, founder of the Global Water Alliance. “He’s just a wonderful person.”

Another project Deb has been working on for the past decade – and is especially proud of – is working on women’s empowerment in India.

“In villages, women are generally very neglected,” he said. “I thought the important thing was education. If women get education, they will get power.”

Deb has been contributing his own money and helping raise funds with donors for scholarships and school supplies.

Read more about Arun Deb in The Philadelphia Inquirer here.