Impact Stories
Making change happen across Australia and Asia Pacific.
EWB Australia appoints new Chief Executive Officer
Engineers Without Borders Australia is excited to share with you news of the appointment of Russell Shewan as the new CEO of Engineers Without Borders Australia, effective Tuesday 11th June 2024. Russell has held executive and leadership roles with organisations such...

EWB Australia appoints new Chief Executive Officer
Engineers Without Borders Australia is excited to share with you news of the appointment of Russell Shewan as the new CEO of Engineers Without Borders Australia, effective Tuesday 11th June 2024. Russell has held executive and leadership roles with organisations such...

Global travels and local impact – Bea Duffield’s volunteering journey
Bea Duffield isn’t an engineer, but her experience spans almost everything else. From her academic background in scientific research to her career across both private enterprise and government sector, she has worked in a range of diverse fields including resource development, communications and marketing, policy, and infrastructure development. Her varied career has taken her across the globe, from her home base in Brisbane to Vietnam, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.
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...