Blog
Stories from EWB Australia
Coming full circle: volunteer Meg Cummins returns to the project that started it all
When Meg Cummins first set foot in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as an Environmental Engineering Mentor with Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB), she was driven by a desire to create lasting change. Now, as she prepares to return to her role at Aurecon after a 12-month...
That’s a wrap for the 2024 EWB Challenge Showcase!
This year’s EWB Challenge Showcase was delivered in collaboration with the 2024 World Engineering Education Forum hosted by the University of Technology Sydney. Finalist teams from 14 universities across Australia and New Zealand joined us at the Sydney Masonic Centre...
This graduate program puts women engineers in the field and brings ‘feto’ to the front
Featured image: ‘Feto to the Front’ graduates with the representatives of the US Embassy in Timor-Leste and EWB staff and volunteers in the Timor-Leste office in Dili. In Timor-Leste, water is a woman’s problem. In rural and regional areas, water generally isn’t...
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.
‘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.
Inaugural Indigenous-led Youth Outreach program kicks off in Far North Queensland
A new place-based Outreach program – designed by Indigenous people for Indigenous young people – was recently piloted in a small community in Far North Queensland in collaboration with Engineers Australia’s Indigenous Engineers Group and Yintjingga Aboriginal Corporation, with the goal to inspire and support the next generation of Indigenous Engineers.
Engineering partnerships critical for progress: the case at Rawa
Over the past four years, Rawa Community School - one of Australia’s most remote Aboriginal Independent Schools, located on the edge of Great Sandy Desert in the Pilbara Region of WA on Warnman and Manyjilyjarra Country - has been working on improving the decline of...
Piloting handwashing stations in rural Cambodian schools
Many school children in Cambodia do not have access to appropriate sanitation facilities, particularly in rural areas where a third of schools lack adequate hygiene facilities with soap and water. The link between sanitation and education became especially apparent...
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.
Drones, disasters and design – new STEM outreach for regional classrooms
It’s a sad reality: regional students all too often miss out on important educational opportunities that their peers in the city get to enjoy. When it comes to STEM outreach, many programs are run out of capital cities, which means regional school students can easily...
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.
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.
Designing Indigenous-led engineering pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been practising engineering and sustainably managing Country for over 70,000 years. But in the engineering sector, the number of Indigenous engineers employed in Australia remains low. How can we attract this critical...
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.
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.
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.
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.
Q&A from ‘What every engineer must do to create solutions that stick’ webinar
Thank you to everyone who attended our webinar, What every engineer must do to create solutions that stick. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! It was a wonderful discussion and we thank you for your insightful questions and feedback. In case you missed it, you...
Meet our Futur-neers: Hannah Jury
It’s not all calculations and writing reports when you’re an engineer. Sometimes you’re abseiling from some of the tallest buildings in Melbourne’s CBD. Or at least that’s what a ‘day in the office’ can look like for façade engineer, Hannah Jury.
Nation-building for Timor-Leste
EWB’s engineering skills and in-country presence in Timor-Leste has been utilised to support an important nation-building project.
The PhD unpacking intersecting complexities in WASH
A soon-to-be-published PhD thesis takes learnings from EWB’s Sanitation in Challenging Environment program to investigate the interlocking and compounding complexities that create inequalities in water and sanitation access for communities in challenging contexts.
Volunteering for ‘real-world work experience’
Volunteers are so important to EWB’s work. They dedicate time and effort to ensure the inclusion of those often left behind, drive climate action and advance the Sustainable Development Goals. We have volunteers whom support our work in Australia, and volunteers that work with our teams in-country. Kit Kann is one of them.
Meeting on Yirrganydji Country for the EWB Challenge Showcase
Hosted by event sponsors TNQ Drought Hub and The Cairns Institute at James Cook University’s Nguma-bada campus, the 15th EWB Challenge Showcase heralded the return to in-person showcases since the start of the pandemic. Students, academics, judges, and EWB staff from around Australia were eager to travel to Yirrganydji Country in far north Queensland, which was the site of the project brief for this year’s EWB Challenge.
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