This year’s EWB Challenge Showcase was delivered in collaboration with the World Engineers Convention (WEC) and created a dynamic atmosphere that sets the bar for engagement and activation of the engineering and engineering education sectors.
Each year, the EWB Challenge Showcase brings together top university student teams from across Australia and New Zealand, EWB staff, our community partner representatives, and industry. Students present the most innovative, community-centred design ideas developed in response to the EWB Challenge Design Brief, and all event participants celebrate a year of learning, focused work, and collaboration.
Aligning the Showcase event with the WEC in 2019 created a unique opportunity to link the inspiration and energy associated with EWB Challenge student teams with a global conversation around the role of engineering in support of the sustainable development agenda. Comments from WEC attendees across the day demonstrated just how interested and impressed they were by the quality of student thinking on display – as were we!
2019 EWB Challenge Award Winners
Arup EWB Challenge Showcase Award:
University of Queensland – The Bamboo “Revolver” – Water treatment system in Timor Leste
WaterAid Community Focus Award:
Charles Darwin University – Whirligig Dryer and Personalised Store and Wash Container
DELWP Equity and Inclusion Award:
University of Technology, Sydney – Menstrual Hygiene Management Solutions
Engineers Australia WEC Sustainability Award:
Curtin University – Menstrual Wash Kits – a Solution for Menstrual Management
Engineers Australia WEC Sustainability Award: University of Melbourne – Seeds for the Future
People’s Choice Award:
Charles Sturt University – the Sun Sloth System
Where to from here? The 2019 EWB Challenge program was delivered in partnership with EWB long-term partner WaterAid, with a specific focus on their work in the Manufahi District of Timor-Leste.
Alongside the Showcase event, EWB Australia and WaterAid staff from both Australia and Timor-Leste worked through opportunities for future work together and mechanisms for progressing some of the most interesting and aligned EWB Challenge ideas. Student submissions are being compiled and key areas of interest, such as innovations around menstrual hygiene management, will be summarised for further investigation by the EWB Australia team in Timor-Leste.
More about the EWB Challenge Program: In 2019, the EWB Challenge Design Brief and supporting resources were embedded in the first-year curriculum of 28 universities across Australia and New Zealand, reaching over 10,000 students. The real-world, community-identified projects, interactive background resources, and engagement with the EWB Challenge team enable students to build awareness of human-centered engineering concepts, professional skills, and the role of engineers in sustainable development. Learn more about the EWB Challenge Program.
Images credit: Engineers Australia.