Blog
Stories from EWB Australia
Falling into fulfilment: how Jack’s volunteering is engineering change in Timor-Leste
Jack Bygott hasn’t always been passionate about engineering; he was just always good at maths. Like most kids who were good at maths or science, he “fell into” studying engineering at university. “I was having second thoughts about studying engineering but then I...
Announcing our 2024 EWB Challenge community partner – Torres Strait Island Regional Council
Each year, over 10,000 first-year university students across Australia and New Zealand participate in the EWB Challenge. Students work in teams to develop a solution to challenges identified by EWB Australia’s community-based partners. We are excited to announce that...
Remote field visits, tuk-tuk commutes, and fish amok: a year in the life of an Australian volunteer
Caption: Australian Volunteers Program Field Professionals, Nicole and Bea, visiting a school in Siem Reap where an accessible handwashing station was installed by EWB in partnership with CRST. Water, risk, and sustainability engineer Nicole Locke had always wanted...
Partnering for the Pacific with EWB New Zealand
Our work in Vanuatu is delivered through an ongoing peer partnership with EWB New Zealand, which commenced over ten years ago. EWB Australia and EWB NZ work together strategically - coordinating initiatives jointly as well as alongside each other - across a range of...
Rural students ideate for the STEM Design Challenge
EWB Australia teams up with organisations and industry determined to expose more girls and young women to STEM pathways and careers in the STEM Design Challenge. It’s a massive conundrum for country Australia – how to water crops in times of drought. Year six students...
#MySTEMstory
This National Science Week we've collaborated with UTS Women In Engineering and IT and the Techgirls Movement Foundation to share #MySTEMstory - the stories of women from rural regions of NSW who have forged amazing careers in STEM. In Australia, and particularly in...
Creating greater impact through mobilisation
Our first year of activating our mobilisation strategy has created more opportunities for volunteers and more support for communities. 53 volunteers mobilised 4 conceptual design projects completed (another 3 in progress) 800+ volunteer hours The launch of EWB...
Valuable New Opportunities For Engineering On Country
Program Re-think Opens Up Valuable New Opportunities For Supporting Remote Indigenous Communities Due to COVID-19, access to remote Indigenous communities in Australia has been restricted, resulting in Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB) withdrawing face-to-face...
Design Challenge for Your Community
This National Science Week, the University of Technology Sydney, Engineers Without Borders Australia and Tech Girls Movement Foundation invite students to 'create for your community' in a two-day design challenge. On Thursday 20 & Friday 21 August 2020, classes...
ATEC biodigesters commence roll-out into Bangladesh
Pictured: In Bangladesh, Akhi is trialling the ATEC biodigester. Since launching as a social enterprise, ATEC* (of which EWB Australia is a shareholder) has reached over 1,500 households across rural Cambodia with its biodigester technology. Last year, a AU$2.35...
EWB Australia and FREO2 form alliance to design and scale life-saving oxygen technology
Pictured: Francis is happier and healthier three days after receiving oxygen therapy for suspected pneumonia/sepsis. Image credit: Peter Casamento Photography/FREO2 Pneumonia is the biggest killer of children across the globe, causing over 800,000 deaths per year*....
Let’s flatten the curve, and let’s make the next curve flatter
EWB Board Member Peter McArdle reflects on COVID-19 and where it lands in the humanitarian-development nexus. Never before has the public been so captivated by a graph. Sure, engineers are used to taking solace in the comfort of a curve, but this is not… typical,...
Delivering COVID-19 education to Vanuatu’s most remote communities
Pictured: Ratu from Vanuatu's Ministry of Health team at Drinking Water Safety and Security Plans training Immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic crisis that has impacted the world, Vanuatu was hit by Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Harold. With borders closing in an...
Farming tech from afar
Pictured: Concept note for an Agrilab project The Agrilab is a co-design and capacity building program working to enable accessible agricultural livelihoods for people living with disabilities in rural Cambodia. The Agrilab involves a series of codesign workshops,...
EWB women standing up for women, everywhere, in the time of COVID-19
Have you been considering the challenges COVID-19 has placed on women, children, and other vulnerable members of our community? EWB's Women in Engineering (Feto Enginerha) team in Timor-Leste, joined by staff from Australia, Vanuatu, and Cambodia, certainly has! In...
Sonya Rand joins the Board of EWB Australia
EWB is delighted to announce the appointment of Sonya Rand to the EWB Australia Board. A Chartered Chemical Engineer, Sonya has held advisory roles with the Australian Attorney General’s Office and DFAT, addressing issues of Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery in...
Women In Engineering Day 2020: webinar
View the webinar recording here. Despite the opportunities available to women in engineering, the percentage of women in the engineering workforce sits below 13%. Defying the national trend, at Engineers Without Borders Australia, women make up 30-45% of the programs...
How can we take reconciliaction?
By EWB CEO, Eleanor Loudon Over the past week, there has been much reflection, sharing, and (online) gathering in support of National Reconciliation Week. This year's theme #InThisTogether mirrors the Covid-19 pandemic call-to-action, whilst being a pointed reminder...
Increasing access to energy on Country
Currently, many Indigenous communities are only able to access reliable energy on Country through the use of petrol and diesel generators - which can be costly to run and maintain - or through fixed renewable energy systems that are prohibitively expensive. In 2020...
Menstrual hygiene needs attention. Period.
Menstrual hygiene is gaining traction as a critical water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) concern in the Asia-Pacific, and intersects many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Timor-Leste, our WASH program works to support the needs of rural communities in...
Reflections of a volunteering lifer
Pictured: Heidi as a volunteer with EWB working with a local project team, on a water supply project, conducting a topographical survey for a water supply distribution line at a rural agricultural college in remote Timor-Leste. This National Volunteer Week, long-time...
Open Mobilisation Challenge: Design a Timer (Without Numbers)
Seeking: graphic designers, industrial designers, software engineers or individuals with a natural flair for pragmatic design! Join our open design challenge to help save the lives of mothers and babies in rural Myanmar. Why is this needed? Myanmar has the highest...
Supporting Vanuatu’s Covid-19 education response
Vanuatu remains one of the few countries in the world with no confirmed cases of Covid-19. But cultural activity, remote living, low incomes and a stretched health system make Vanuatu communities highly vulnerable to the spread of such a virus. EWB Australia has been...
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