Blog

Ali Shad (pictured) works as a Senior Electrical Engineer at Bechtel and last year volunteered his time to be an EWB Challenge Reviewer, assisting EWB Australia assess project submissions from the thousands of first-year University students...
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Meet our new Field Professional: Alex Harden Alex will be working as a WASH Field Support Mentor with Plan Timor-Leste. Based in Aileu, she will be working with communities to improve access to sustainable, community-managed drinking water and...
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Meet our new Field Professional: Abigail Neave Abigail has a background in human-centred design (medical devices) but for the last few years has been working in consultancy in three waters in New Zealand. Her role in Timor-Leste will focus on ...
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Recently EWB Australia has learned that one of its corporate partners, engineering firm GHD, is a consultant engineer to the Adani Mining Carmichael coalmine project in the Galilee Basin in Central Queensland. GHD has a public commitment to sust...
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  Meet our new National Schools Outreach (SO) Knowledge Hub team members! We're delighted to announce that Chelsea Hayward who will be taking on the role of SO National Coordinator. Chelsea has been involved for many years in a rang...
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  Heidi Michael, Head of Community Programs (International & Australia) for Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB), has just received the prestigious Engineers Australia ‘Engineering Executive’ (EngExec) - Chartere...
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The Lama Lama people are the traditional owners for lands extending several hundred kilometres in Far North Queensland - from the plains at the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, to the breathtaking coastline of Cape York Peninsula, through ...
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Name: Shona Fitzgerald Position: WASH Technical and Strategy Mentor Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tenure: July 2018-December 2019 Pictured: Shona gets hands-on for construction of a prototype latrine design for high groundwater areas in Ca...
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  EWB Australia enables a volunteer group to focus learning on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, developing knowledge and insights to inform the co-creation and implementation of a range of national and local initiatives. Kn...
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An informed and empathetic understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture – and the practice of dadirri - needs to be deeply embedded across our entire organisation for us to be true to our community-led, human-centred appr...
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Now in its third year, the MECCA M-Power Mentoring Program, in partnership with Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Australia, empowers and engages young Australian women demonstrating vision and leadership in Science, Technology, Engineering & ...
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As a movement, we have collectively committed to addressing the deep inequalities faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people –at EWB Australia, we call this our ‘Engineering on Country’ commitment. Your belief and ...
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EWB Australia is delighted to welcome Landscape Architecture and Urban Design practice, UDLA Studio, as our pro bono partner for the Yawuru Youth Accommodation and Training Complex project, and its Principal Director, Greg Grabasch, as Guest D...
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It has been 12 months since I joined EWB Australia and in that time, we have started to ask ourselves 'why are we here?', and explore what is most important to our movement.  It is about ensuring communities have a better quality ...
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In August 2019, EWB Australia will implement its first Australian on-country professional skills “Intensive” – an unique eight-day fully immersive professional and personal learning experience. The Intensive will gather a diverse,...
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Laura Deaves: Regioneering Volunteer via the Komatsu’s ‘Live Your Dream’ program   What is your academic/professional background? I studied a Bachelor of Mechatronic Engineering/Physics at UNSW, graduating at the...
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Daren Thanh: Regioneering Volunteer via the Komatsu’s ‘Live Your Dream’ program What is your academic/professional background? I graduated with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from UTS in 2017 and am now working as...
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  Jacky Cai: Regioneering Volunteer via the Komatsu’s ‘Live Your Dream’ program What is your academic/professional background? I graduated Mechatronic Engineering from UNSW in 2017 and have been working as a Graduat...
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   EWB Knowledge Hubs provide targeted opportunities for people to apply their expertise to volunteer across a broad range of EWB Australia’s thematic focuses. What is a Technical Knowledge Hub? Our Technical Knowledge Hubs are...
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A massive boost to Regioneering in regional NSW, through our passionate volunteers The EWB School Outreach program in regional NSW recently received a wonderful boost, thanks to a volunteer’s passionate pitch to an internal employee gran...
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By Margarita Moya, Board Member, Engineers Without Borders 50 students. 1 hour to re-imagine, design and prototype a solution to challenges in accessing sustainable energy. Welcome to the Designathon, an event sponsored by ASI Solutions and ho...
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Pictured (l to r): Alexie Seller (Pollinate), the Hon Lisa Singh and Eleanor Loudon (EWB Australia) By Eleanor Loudon, CEO Engineers Without Borders When talk turns to mobilising diversity in the professional sector, you can pretty much guar...
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By Sarah Herkess Leaders and representatives of the Engineering on Country (EoC) regional focus groups from nations around Australia gathered on Ngunnawal country, in Canberra, for an immersive weekend of learning and collaboration in January ...
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- Eleanor Loudon, CEO, Engineers Without Borders Australia This week I attended a great event spotlighting International Women’s Day 2019, with Tracey Spicer as the keynote speaker. She spoke well and her thoughts resonated with those in...
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“It’s the first lecture of Computational Fluid Dynamics. The hum of a packed lecture room awaits the start of class. I look around. Slowly, a realisation... I can only see four other females in the class, all seated behind me. Five. ...
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In Timor-Leste, three in ten people lack access to clean water – essential services and infrastructure are still developing. A relatively low-skilled engineering sector compounds these challenges, and women face specific barriers accessing...
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Based in Phnom Penh, Andy will be leading the development and application of the EWB solutions design process, supporting our Community Programs team to strengthen applied processes for solutions development. Andy has a background in mechanic...
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Australian Lawyers for Human Rights’ (ALHR) has released its annual report card, revealing a Fail on Australia’s approach to Indigenous Australians throughout 2018. Amongst a range of evaluations - including disability rights, refu...
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The Country Manager position is a new role that supports our expanded work in Timor-Leste. As a long time EWBer, Jack Nugent’s knowledge and expertise will be welcomed as he leads our Timor-Leste team. Jack has previously been a Field ...
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Engineers Without Borders Australia proudly supports the United Nations ‘International Volunteer Day’ (IVD) on 5th of December to raise awareness on the importance of volunteers and their contribution in response to challenges facing th...
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With female participation rates across engineering in Australia at an all-time low with a forecasted decline, the sector has a chronic gender diversity issue, despite a range of interventions. A new report - “Engineering Redefined” -...
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"The beauty of Pro Bono projects is that they are infinitely diverse as challenges but equally diverse in where they might come from." Pro-bono engineering is a dyamic and meaningful way to make a contribution towards society espec...
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"How do we act together to mitigate the impact of human waste on the health of communities" Stephanie Hamel is WASH Program Manager in Vanuatu with EWB Australia and EWB New Zealand. This World Toilet Day she shares her reflections on ...
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Following on from our Community Thinking discussion event in June, Engineers without Borders Australia and Engineers Australia (EA) co-hosted a formal workshop on Human Centred Design. This event was attended by over 30 people interested in de...
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How can we encourage Pro Bono services in our industries? This was the question raised at the recent think tank event organised by Engineers without Borders (EWB) and Engineers Australia (EA). During this event participants were given the op...
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Many of us have seen news images of people impacted by conflict or natural disasters fleeing their homes. There are global political debates about where these individuals and families can seek refuge in the longer term. But little is discussed i...
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It’s been just over 5 months since Chelsea Hayward began her EWB Australia School Outreach project, supported by a MECCA M-Power grant, and she has been busy working on a number of activities. Recently, she travelled to the Torres Strait Isla...
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  It has been 27 years since the famous handshake between the Minister for Indigenous Affairs and his Opposition counterpart, symbolising a great beginning to the statutory Aboriginal reconciliation process. Yet constitutional and legis...
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This year's International Volunteer Managers Day theme is "Be the Voice". As EWB Volunteer Outreach Lead, Anna Cain wants to voice a big thanks to all the volunteer managers who are enabling EWB to connect, educate and empower people ...
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Tara Bartnik recently started a placement with EWB's local partner organisation, WaterAid Timor-Leste, as a WASH Program Quality Mentor. She blogs about her experience of working with the organisation to build their capacity in planning and man...
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In July Jimi started a volunteer placement with Engineers Without Borders (EWB) working as a WASH Technical Mentor with Rainwater Cambodia. He has had some interesting experiences in that short time and, by his own admission, has learnt a...
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In early August, Chelsea Hayward, the recent winner of the MECCA M-Power grant supported by a partnership between Engineers Without Borders Australia and MECCA Brands, participated in a bootcamp for young female social entrepreneurs. The bootcamp f...
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Reflections on Design Summit Samoa - by Rameen Hayat Malik “For me, there was always a motivation to do something meaningful. I just didn’t quite understand what that looked like or how it was to be done." Another thing I al...
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How far back to we need to go to understand the engineering solutions that have been applied to shape our landscape?  In Australia examples like the Brewarrina Fish Traps in South Western New South Wales, recognised by Engineers Australia as a...
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Last week, I had the privilege to attend and present at OzWater, the Australian Water Association’s (AWA) annual conference, along with Kea, the executive director of Rainwater Cambodia (RWC). As well as my presentation, I also was involved i...
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NAIDOC outreach events have become a staple in the Vic EWB calendar. As always a troupe of volunteers represented by national office, state chapter, university and professional associate alike all pile into cars and journey up to Barmah for a day d...
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Structural Engineer Katie Brown recently participated in an Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Design for Development programme in partnership with the University of Adelaide.  The programme included a small number of workshops and a seven day to...
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EWB Australia is proud to launch its 2015-16 Annual Report, ‘Towards 2020,’ celebrating and reporting the impact of our organisation over the last financial year.  The report, EWB’s most comprehensive yet, showcases the bread...
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We are celebrating International Women's Day 2017 with a couple of inspiring announcements At EWB we believe that diversity and equality not only create a richer society, they also help to foster innovation, inspiration and solutions ...
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Aims to alleviate the global water crisis with energy-efficient technologies that harvest fresh water from thin air. WATER ABUNDANCE XPRIZE - APply at water.xprize.org Water is a key element of life on our planet. More than 71% of the Eart...
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ORICA GRADUATES ATTEND ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS DESIGN SUMMIT IN NEPAL Article published thanks to Orica Engineering.  In December 2016, Orica graduates Chloe Quinn and Alicia Rolls were given the opportunity to travel to the first ever E...
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RainWater Cambodia: Empowering Cambodians with the help of Engineers Without Borders Australia By Lachlan Guthrie - originally published on his blog.  Recently my friend and colleague Rov Sokkhai wrote a small case study abo...
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EWB's ‘Making an Impact’ Summit celebrates the work of students across Australia and New Zealand Annual event held at EWB's new home, The Dream Factory in Footscray For the second year running, university students from acros...
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EWB Australia relies on the work of over 1200 members who actively volunteer their time to EWB, as part of the International Volunteer Day, we celebrate them and all our other volunteers. This year's International Volunteer Day asks us to ...
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Meet Basia Wronski, Process Engineer Basia is an EWB Volunteer, Corporate Representative and Process Engineer in Surface Facilities Development at Origin.    EWB Australia relies on the work of over 1200 members who actively volunte...
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Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning (SAIL) is a non-profit, volunteer-run program that provides free English tutoring support and community services to the Sudanese Australian community. Written by Matilda Bowra. SAIL was started in Melbour...
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Luan Nguyen - Civil Engineer, Vice President EWB WA Region  “I first came across EWB when I did the EWB Challenge during my first year at university. I was finding engineering very abstract and uninteresting and was thinking about...
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Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB) recognises that digital access is a major barrier to disadvantaged and marginalised groups participating in Australian society and is developing a digital access strategy to help bridge the digital divide. ...
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Arup's 40 over 40 campaign - Inspiring ARUP's employees to join EWB. Arup’s 40 over40 campaign is designed to inspire more senior Arup employees to become actively involved with Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB). Written b...
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The power of our people - The EWB community in action  Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB) is addressing the most pressing issues of our time by mobilising a diverse and vibrant community of people to create positive change through hum...
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International Volunteer Managers Day – One Job, many hats!  A reflection and thank you from Jacqui Bell, Member & Volunteer Engagement Team When we identified that there was an ‘international’ day for acknowledging ...
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ATEC* Biodigester recognised as South East Asia’s number one Social Enterprise for 2016.  Social Enterprise receives award at the Sankalp South East Asia Summit    ATEC* Biodigester, the social enterprise developed fro...
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Tim Kuiper Shifts the Future With Soap As a first year engineering student, Tim Kuiper never imagined he would change hundreds of lives with soap. Nearly one decade later; however, that’s exactly what he is doing.  Tim first engag...
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A Day in the Life - An EWB Field Professional experience in Phnom Penh - Part 2 By Lachlan Guthrie - originally published on his blog.  This is An, he is one of the most fascinating people that I have met in-country. I was just wal...
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Priyani Madan - Civil Engineer (Water) Arup - Melbourne Priyani Madan has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Masters of Engineering and works as a Civil Engineer with the Arup Water Team. Written by Matilda Bowra. She originally joined EWB’s ...
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A Day in the Life - An EWB Field Professional experience in Phnom Penh - Part 2 By Lachlan Guthrie - originally published on his blog.  This week I will hopefully try to complete the first output of my placement. I will be running a s...
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A Day in the Life - An EWB Field Professional experience in Phnom Penh - Part 5. By Lachlan Guthrie - originally published on his blog. Last week I was given an opportunity to facilitate a workshop to the Center for Sustainable Water&rsquo...
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A Day in the Life - An EWB Field Professional experience in Phnom Penh - Part 2 By Lachlan Guthrie - originally published on his blog.  The last few weeks have been really exciting, getting really stuck into my work at RainWater Cambo...
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A Day in the Life - An EWB Field Professional experience in Phnom Penh. By Lachlan Guthrie - originally published on his blog.  Recently I have been given an amazing opportunity to represent EWB Australia in Cambodia, working with our l...
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Leadership at all levels  - Creating a pro bono culture in engineering A meeting of the Community of Practice for Pro Bono Systems. By Sarah Matthee, Former EWB Corporate Coordinator  Last week, a group of twenty engineering sector ...
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The New Colombo Plan - Funding students to travel and learn with EWB Australia. By Mikaela Day (Reproduced with permission from Mojo Correspondent) The opportunity for Australian university students to travel as part of their degre...
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Written by Alex McCart. Originally published by Mojo Correspondent.  If you search “engineers” on Google Images what comes up? Men in hardhats. Men holding blueprints. Men operating machinery. Men stationed at an oilrig. The...
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Lighting the Future in Cambodia - EWB's Appropriate Technology Initiative To support this project - sign up as an EWB monthly donor and help us engineer a better world.  Rebecca Watts, Project Facilitator for EWB Australia's Approp...
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Using the EWB Challenge to program to create global citizens by introducing them to humanitarian engineering.  Imagine you have just finished high school, started first-year university and signed up for the EWB Challenge. Despite the fact yo...
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EWB's School Outreach Program heads to the Torres Strait Inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals and humanitarian engineers. Chelsea Hayward and Talia Rose stand on the coast of Thursday Island, one of 274 islands that dot the Tor...
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How University students are taking it on themselves to create change.  A reflection on EWB's School Outreach and Regioneering Program. Written by Rob Snelling.    As part of EWB’s national school outreach program, ...
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Developing global citizens and empathic humans - EWB's Design Summit program Public speaking can be a daunting experience, especially if you are talking about some of the worlds' greatest social and environmental challenge and you are spe...
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From Student to Field Professional: Becky Watts talks about her journey with EWB Australia  When ANU student Becky Watts first started her engineering degree, she never imagined she’d land her first job in a city more than 7000 kilomet...
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Lazio Miranda - Introducing a Timor-Leste leader. “I chose engineering, because I wanted  to contribute to the infrastructure development of my young country.” Meet Lazio Miranda, a Production Engineer with Community Ho...
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