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Stories from EWB Australia
Congratulations to the 2023 EWB Challenge Showcase award winners

Congratulations to the 2023 EWB Challenge Showcase award winners

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. This year’s EWB Challenge Showcase saw students, academics, judges, and EWB staff from across Australia, New Zealand and Cambodia travel to James Cook University’s Nguma-bada campus in far north Queensland to battle it out for the top spot.

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Inside the Dili Water System Emergency Repair program

Inside the Dili Water System Emergency Repair program

The Dili Water System Emergency Repair Program (DWSERP) addressed the catastrophic flood damage to Dili’s water transmission systems wreaked by heavy rains in April 2021. The program, funded by the Australian Government via the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, commenced in June 2021 and concluded in June 2023. EWB Australia, along with its program partners, played a key role in providing technical support, concept design, advice and delivery of multidisciplinary engineering to repair and stabilise major sections of Dili’s water system. The project was a wonderful opportunity for EWB to display its ability to engage in emergency infrastructure recovery projects. With the project now complete, the project team shared some of their reflections.

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Engineer by profession, engineer in spirit

Engineer by profession, engineer in spirit

Picture this; you’re an undergraduate university student working on your first introductory engineering assignment where you are required to draw a bridge for a remote village in Cambodia. Or you are a Master’s student designing a HVAC system for households in Nepal, with variable temperature, pressure, and elevation levels to consider. University teaches you the basics – the software, the calculations, and how to write the report at the end – but how can you be sure that it’s fit for purpose in those locations? Do you really need to understand the socio-technical and cultural aspects of building something for a community you might never visit?

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Building a reliable water supply for the residents of Darlau, Timor-Leste

Building a reliable water supply for the residents of Darlau, Timor-Leste

In Darlau, a village in Timor-Leste, collecting water was until recently a slow and physically demanding task. Every day, residents would trek to the only springwater supply and carry buckets back up a steep hill. This job was generally done by women and children – a round trip that could take up to 2 hours, and in extreme heat during summer.

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‘Impactful Futures’ Immersives return on Lama Lama Country

‘Impactful Futures’ Immersives return on Lama Lama Country

‘Look, listen, learn’ was the mantra of Traditional Owners on Lama Lama Country during EWB’s Impactful Futures Immersive in July, which took participants on a journey through the tropical landscapes and cultural sites of Cape York for a week. By observing and attuning themselves to the sights, sounds and voices around them, participants were able to experience a deep immersion in the culture and history of Lama Lama Country.

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Exploring opportunities for native plants at the ‘Nguluway’ Local Design Summit

Exploring opportunities for native plants at the ‘Nguluway’ Local Design Summit

The cultivation of native grains through careful land management was once central to Aboriginal life. However, following colonisation, the shift to European foods and farming methods damaged native grasslands and reduced biodiversity.

At Nguurruu farm, 40 minutes north of Canberra, Murray Prior is working with Ngambri custodians to implement regenerative farming practices and revive native foods and land management. Farming practices at Nguurruu are informed by Indigenous knowledges and seek to restore biodiversity and reverse ecological damage.

The second iteration of the EWB ACT Chapter’s ‘Nguluway’ Local Design Summit, held earlier this year in collaboration with Nguurruu farm, gave university students and industry professionals a firsthand insight into regenerative farming practices on Country. 

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A climate resilient and community-led solution to sanitation challenges in Vanuatu

A climate resilient and community-led solution to sanitation challenges in Vanuatu

For environmental activist David Kalsal, fishing and swimming in the Emten Lagoon on Vanuatu’s Efate Island has always been a part of local life for him and his family. In recent years however, the lagoon has also become an indicator of how climate change and sanitation challenges are impacting his community.

The Erakor Bridge community lies on the edge of the Emten Lagoon and is home to approximately 200 residents. The community consists of low-lying areas with a high groundwater table, meaning the area is especially vulnerable to cyclones and frequent flooding during periods of heavy rainfall. As a result of flooding and inadequate household sanitation systems, swimming and fishing is no longer safe for the community due to high levels of e.coli bacteria detected in the lagoon. 

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Meet our Futur-neers: Eve Visser

Meet our Futur-neers: Eve Visser

As a high school student, Eve Visser was told by a career advisor that she shouldn’t consider university. However, Eve was determined not to let this dissuade her. She took it as added motivation, going on to receive a scholarship to study at the Australian National University (ANU). Currently in her third year studying Engineering and Science with a major in Climate Science, Eve is passionate about sharing her experiences and knowledge with prospective students. This interest in outreach inspired her to start volunteering with EWB’s ACT Chapter, running workshops to encourage students to pursue a path in engineering.

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Inspiring the next generation of technology stewards with Bentley Systems

Inspiring the next generation of technology stewards with Bentley Systems

An annual STEM outreach event that explores and showcases the opportunities possible in STEM careers brought 60 high-school students from three schools across Victoria together for a series of design challenges in November, 2022. The outreach program known as the Innovation Challenge has been run in Victoria by the EWB Australia University of Melbourne Chapter since 2019. The program engages Year 9 and 10 students, primarily from backgrounds under-represented in STEM, in an in-depth, hands-on socio-technical design challenge.

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Northern Rivers floods engineering response paves way for future emergency support

Northern Rivers floods engineering response paves way for future emergency support

A year after the floods that devastated communities in the Northern Rivers region, Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB) and local community partner Holding Hands Under Ground (HHUG) have been coordinating volunteers to respond to community needs. In doing so, EWB has been piloting a recovery response model that can be mobilised across other regions during future climate disasters, to support low-income and marginalised communities.

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Regioneering on the road again

Regioneering on the road again

From Busselton on the southwest edge of Australia to the Torres Strait Islands in the far north, EWB Australia’s Regioneering program sprung well and truly back into action in 2022.Through week-long road trips, Regioneering inspires students in regional and remote areas, a cohort that often misses out on STEM outreach initiatives, to engage with STEM and consider the possibilities of a career in engineering. For many EWB Australia Chapters, these trips have been on hold over the past few years due to pandemic-related restrictions. With road trips and incursions possible again across the country, EWB Australia’s Regioneers have enthusiastically returned.

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Meet our Futur-neers: Erin Hughes

Meet our Futur-neers: Erin Hughes

Growing up on a boat in the Torres Strait until she was 14, water was an integral part of Erin Hughes’ childhood. Today, it’s the focus of her work as an engineer. After completing a Chemical Engineering degree at the University of Queensland, Erin is now a Surface Water Engineer at Hydrology and Risk Consulting in Victoria. She works in flood engineering and hydrology, working with emergency services to manage flood risks and providing technical input to dam operators across Australia.

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