A former Old Rochester Regional High School valedictorian and Brown University student is inspiring future generations two years after he tragically passed away in a boating accident.

On Oct. 15, 54 ORR students were bused to Providence for the first Dana M. Dourdeville Lecture on Engineering in Service to Society.

Established this year in honor of Dourdeville, the series aims to bring high-profile speakers to campus who used engineering to contribute to their communities and beyond.

Jennifer Casasanto, the associate dean for programs and planning at Brown’s engineering school, said the lecture series is a collaboration between the Dourdeville family and the school.

“The idea came from the family, but it was a natural extension of the legacy of Dana and the work he did at Brown to engage his classmates,” Casasanto said.

Dourdeville was a junior working towards a degree in mechanical engineering at Brown when he passed away. A popular student with a variety of interests, the Marion resident went missing on New Year’s Eve in 2013 after he went duck hunting in his kayak.

When he didn’t return home authorities launched a massive search. His body was recovered two weeks later on a beach in Woods Hole.

Casasanto said Dourdeville is fondly remembered at Brown for his involvement and enthusiasm.

“He was great at helping explain concepts to students during office hours,” she said. “He was very passionate about how the study of engineering could better the world, and he helped inspire that in others.”

ORR Principal Mike Devoll said Dourdeville’s mother paid the transportation costs for the high school students.

“It was great for our kids to get on a college campus,” Devoll said. “We’re very appreciative to be affiliated with such an excellent college such as Brown. Everybody won.”

The lecture, titled “Innovation, Inclusion and Impact: Promoting Creativity and Design in International Development”, featured MIT lecturer Amy Smith.

In 2002, Smith founded MIT’s D-Lab, which is focused on improving clean water and cooking technology in third world countries.

Smith’s work is closely aligned with several projects Dourdeville participated in as a student.

In 2013, he completed an internship with Alianza Arkana, a nonprofit that works with indigenous people in Peru. Dourdeville used his engineering expertise to design and build ecologically sound composting toilets. He also installed solar panels at a school there and planned a sustainable aquaculture project.

Dourdeville was also president of Brown’s “Engineers Without Borders” chapter. With the club he traveled to Tireo, Dominican Republic to investigate conditions there.

Smith’s work has brought her abroad as well.

She served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Botswana and performed fieldwork in South Africa, Haiti, Uganda and elsewhere.

In 2010, she was named one of “Time” magazine’s 100 most influential people for promoting innovation in the areas of water testing, agricultural processing and alternative energy.