Blog
Stories from EWB Australia
Congratulations to the 2023 EWB Challenge Showcase award winners
Caption: EWB Challenge finalists preparing their presentation at the 2023 EWB Challenge Showcase held in Cairns. Each year, the EWB Challenge Showcase brings together top university student teams from across the country. Students present the most innovative,...
Engineer by profession, engineer in spirit
Caption: Environmental engineer and EWB Field Professional volunteer, Ella, in Pu Ngaol village. In 2023, two different community contexts were offered to universities delivering the EWB Challenge Series program. The overseas context looked at the aspirations and...
Building a reliable water supply for the residents of Darlau, Timor-Leste
Caption: Darlau residents supporting the construction of the permanent water supply system. 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...
Taylah Griffin on self reflection, collective action and courage as keys to achieving reconciliation
My name is Taylah Griffin, Gangalu mob, I am a Flight Test Engineer (FTE) at Boeing Defence Australia (BDA). I completed my Honours degree in Electrical and Aerospace Engineering from QUT in 2018, and in doing so, became the first Indigenous Australian to graduate...
Visioning Reconciliation: Reconciliation, engineering and you
When people say what can I do, I’m just an individual, Arabella Douglas likes to remind them that they’re made of stars. As you might guess, Arabella is passionate about how individuals can come together to create real change. That’s why her involvement in EWB’s...
National Volunteer Week 2021 Shout Out
It would be impossible to run all the life-changing projects at EWB without the tireless and dedicated work of our amazing volunteers. This National Volunteer Week (May 17-23 2021) we want to say a massive THANK YOU to these people, who make our work possible! We...
Turning a passion for social justice into an engineering career – Adele van der Winden’s EWB Story
One day, nearing the end of high school, Adele van der Winden thought to herself: if only there was a Doctors Without Borders, but for people who like maths and physics. Not long after, she heard about Engineers Without Borders. A spark was lit! Adele’s dedication to...
ANU Breaking New Ground In Humanitarian Engineering Education
It was a handwritten note, placed underneath the door of his office. “I am incredibly passionate about, and dedicated towards becoming, a humanitarian engineer!” it said. That was Orientation Week, 2019. It was one of those precious moments that made Australian...
Embedding the SDGs into corporate responsibility initiatives
EWB Australia partners with organisations that align with us in their commitment to positively contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals. One of these is Epiroc, a leading productivity partner for the mining, infrastructure and natural resources industries....
Wenqian’s way: From inquisitive kid to challenging the status quo
Picture yourself as a kid, watching your parents clean the house. If you’re like most people, you couldn’t think of anything more uninspiring. If you’re like Wenqian Gan, this is exactly what inspires a career. Growing up, Wenqian would watch her parents do chores...
Good will hacking – monitoring the moto
Patrick carries around five second-hand phones. On the weekends, he straps them onto the dashboard of his car and takes them for a drive through Sydney’s streets. Patrick’s not a covert criminal running some kind of dodgy operation. He’s conducting important work on a...
Aligning personal values with an engineering career
When most children get tired of their toys, they’re usually thrown away or donated to the local charity shop. As a young kid growing up in Adelaide, Stephanie May’s mum encouraged her to give away her toys to other children, to bring them some joy. Stephanie was also...
Developing emergency guidelines for Vanuatu
In Vanuatu, the world’s most disaster-prone country, there is not yet an approved approach or plan to guide a sanitation and hygiene response after an emergency. The confluence of Cyclone Harold and a global pandemic in March 2020 saw the significant impact on Vanuatu...
Eliminating disposable nappy waste across the Pacific Islands
Building on initiatives underway in Vanuatu that are exploring solutions to disposable nappy waste - the single largest contributing item to waste in Vanuatu’s capital - EWB is now working on a project to assess solutions to this challenge in 15 countries across the...
Enabling Gender Mainstreaming Through Policy and Programming
In October 2020, EWB’s Board Of Directors demonstrated the organisation's increased commitment to diversity and gender equality, by announcing a specific commitment to board quotas. Currently, five of the eleven board members are women, however, over the next three...
Spring water successes in Timor-Leste
Protecting spring water is critical to ensure the safe - and sustainable - supply of water in many rural communities of Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste is a beautiful but mountainous country, terrain which makes accessing water through borehole wells impractical. As a...
Engineering a decade of action
On World Engineering for Sustainable Development Day (4th March 2021) UNESCO released their second Engineering for Sustainable Development report. Both the report and the day acknowledge the critical role engineers can and must play if we’re to achieve the United...
EWB responds to Timor-Leste floods
Last weekend, and in the midst of a COVID-19 lockdown, heavy rain caused widespread flood damage throughout Timor-Leste. Over 11,000 people have been displaced from their homes, and 30% of Dili’s residents are currently unable to access water, due to severely damaged...
Announcing the EWB Influencer Fellowship recipients for 2021
The EWB Influencer Fellowship is a transformative mentorship program that individually supports students who have already displayed a particular drive and commitment to using their skills to address inequality, sustainability and peace. Now in its second year, five...
Supporting partners through pandemics: Vanuatu
In Vanuatu, the pandemic has meant we have had to alter how our Australia Volunteer Field Professionals support our work remotely, with a shift to strengthening the capacity of our local partners to design appropriate and sustainable technology solutions. EWB’s...
Water rehab for Mekong villages
The Mekong River is the lifeblood of Southeast Asia. As one of the longest rivers in the world, it flows through six countries - including Cambodia, where it is home to thousands of people who live in villages not far from its banks. These communities access the...
Jumbo Jars ready for when the heavens open
Half of Cambodia’s rural population - more than six million people - lack access to clean water. It’s a combination of two main issues. One is climate change, which has brought about significant drought. The other is an unreliable supply of clean water, due to unsafe...
Seeking solutions to acceptance of female engineers in Timor-Leste
A new report aims to highlight the challenges and explore solutions to the barriers that female engineers face in Timor-Leste – of which there are many. Feto Enginhera was formed in 2014 to support the technical and engineering careers of women in Timor-Leste. Less...
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