In 2022 STEM x Changemakers, a new initiative of University of Technology Sydney’s Women in Engineering and IT (WiEIT) and EWB Australia, with support from the Caterpillar Foundation, launched with a mission to change that.

Collaborating for impact

WiEIT and EWB Australia both have existing outreach programs that aim to increase diversity in the STEM disciplines by showcasing the possibilities available to groups that are currently underrepresented in the field. Through this shared purpose, and the EWB Australia University of Technology Sydney Chapter, they’ve formed close ties and a healthy history of working together.

So, when the time came to develop a program that would open outreach opportunities up to regional school students, WiEIT and EWB Australia decided to harness each other’s strengths. It was a partnership that made sense, because both learning providers were aware of the dedication required to build long-term impact in increasing diversity in STEM.

As a joint initiative, STEM x Changemakers could hit the ground running with quality, relevant content and leverage strong links to industry and a driven national network of volunteers. Combining resources has also assisted in making the most of existing relationships in the education sector, which proved useful in driving interest during the program’s launch year.

The STEM x Changemakers program is delivered by volunteer facilitators from EWB Australia’s industry partners and network of university student chapter members, who are each trained in facilitation and delivery. 

“Working with school communities, industry and university students over time allows us to bring resources and innovation where they’re really needed – that’s what change looks like from our perspective.” – Dr. Marco Angelini, Outreach Co-ordinator – UTS, Women in Engineering and IT

The three workshops that are currently on offer to schools have been designed to be particularly relevant to regional students:

• Drones for Disaster Relief: Students explore the common issues faced during times of a natural disaster such as information, access, supply and rescue, and design solutions that utilise drone technology to improve the ability of humanitarian services in mitigating the impacts.
• Natural Disaster Resistant Structures: Tasked with developing a housing proposal for a specific context that aims to minimise the impact of natural disasters on housing, students develop prototypes using a combination of practical and system-level techniques.
• Improved Mobility Design Challenge: With a particular focus on endemic issues faced by remote communities, students design solutions to improve mobility and access for communities with diverse backgrounds.

The content is curriculum-integrated, so that schools can provide students with an engaging, novel way to explore STEM that aligns and integrates with school priorities and timelines, instead of adding to their existing work. There’s no barrier to access, as no cost is passed on to schools.

An accessible blended model

Across six sessions, students learn about the project context, design and prototype solutions, test and evaluate, and then present back to their peers. The program features a mix of in-person and online facilitation, which allows students to benefit from a deep multi-session program whilst enabling volunteer facilitators to contribute around their work or study commitments.

Classroom teachers are provided training specific to facilitating the workshops, as well as professional development on the topics of emerging STEM pathways and inclusivity in engineering. This ‘train the trainer’ approach is a key part of the program’s design, as it enables teachers to provide support in the classroom during the sessions where the volunteer facilitators are online and to continue discussions with their students beyond the program.

The first year of STEM x Changemakers focused on schools in New South Wales and received strong demand, with Trinity College in Goulburn, St Matthews Catholic School in Mudgee and Crookwell High School the first to participate. The program received encouraging feedback, with a majority of participating students showing measurable learning improvements.

After reflecting on the successes and scope for improvement, preparations are now underway to scale up in 2023, with plans to expand into Victoria.

If you’re interested in booking a STEM x Changemakers workshop for your school, please contact Joshua Macleod, EWB Australia’s STEM Pathways Lead at j.macleod@ewb.org.au and Dr Marco Angelini, UTS Project Coordinator at marco.angelini@uts.edu.au.

If you would like to support EWB’s work in increasing diversity in engineering, please donate here.

EWB Australia and WiEIT would like to thank Caterpillar Foundation for their support of STEM x Changemakers.

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In October 2022, 27 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engineers, educators, Traditional Owners, students, and land and sea managers came together from across the country to address just that – creating a shared vision to inspire a new generation of Indigenous engineers.

Committed to changing that, the group convened on Gadigal Country for the Yarrawarra Forum – the inaugural initiative of Engineers Australia’s Indigenous Engineers Group (IEG) (‘yarrawarra’ being the Gumbaynggirr word for ‘happy meeting place’). The Forum brought these expert voices together to begin the process of co-designing a unique program that will provide a pathway for more young Indigenous people to forge a career in engineering.

A special interest group of Engineers Australia’s College of Leadership and Management, the IEG is a network of shared knowledge, perspectives, support and inspiration for young professional and upcoming Indigenous engineers. Their focus on reaching young Indigenous students and showcasing the vast opportunities a career in engineering can provide for them, their family and their communities sparked this initiative, which is being delivered with support from Engineers Without Borders Australia and event sponsor Aurecon.

Grant Maher, descendant of the Gumbaynggirr and Biripi people, Structural and Facade Engineer, and Chairperson of the Indigenous Engineers Group, explains why this initiative is so important.

“We’ve seen an enormous increase in demand for Indigenous Engineers to engage in projects throughout Australia, but the demand far outweighs the number of working Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engineers. The past 15-20 years we have seen the development of STEM related pathways and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island kids in late high-school and university, but this has not been there for primary and middle school kids. It is needed here to ignite that spark and interest in STEM, in particular engineering. This program seeks to address this – we need to create and develop the next engineers and leaders for our people – this is where this initiative differs from others. It focuses on the pipeline, development and support of these kids from their early stages of schooling right through to their tertiary studies and into their career as a professional engineer,” says Grant.

Delegates at the Yarrawarra Forum. Photo credit: Wayne Quilliam

So, what did the delegates come up with?

Across two days, the delegates explored a number of ways to meaningfully show young Indigenous people that undertaking a career in engineering will create opportunities for them, their families and their communities. Guest Professor Martin Nakata from James Cook University set the scene by presenting research around some of the barriers to First Nations young people entering and performing in STEM pathways from school to university. This research found that engagement at younger ages is critical to success. After deeper discussion and activities, the delegates drafted a variety of program designs that included education workshops and digital resources to support ongoing learning by students and teachers.

The delegates proposed that the program should be place-based and delivered on Country by Indigenous facilitators with support from friends in the engineering sector – with culture and community at the centre. By engaging younger, primary school and early high school-aged students, their families and community to engineering, the program will address a gap in current initiatives and showcase to students the relevance of engineering at an age before they’ve made up their mind on their future. They also felt the program should showcase how Indigenous engineering is very real and alive today in traditional artefacts and tools to connect engineering to their culture and identity, while combining both modern and traditional skills.

The group also raised the importance of demystifying what engineering is and engaging young people in engineering for Country. They aim to do this by grounding the program in real, local aspirations and challenges by working closely with community to tailor each program. Not only should engineering be made relevant to their community; it must also be tangible by seeing real Indigenous role model facilitators. This will be possible through linking kids to other support organisations and mentoring as they grow older, in order to foster pathways to engineering.

Josh McLeod, a proud Dharug man and descendant of the Boorooberongal Clan, was a delegate at the Yarrawarra Forum, and is EWB Australia’s STEM Pathways Lead.  Says Josh, “It was inspiring to work with such a deadly group from all over Australia that all shared their passion for improving our representation of First Nations people with STEM careers. It was incredible to have the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges we all face in the STEM space as First Nations people. I’m looking forward to witnessing the powerful outcomes of the Forum and watching our younger generations thrive in the world we are building.”

Some of the yarning and findings captured at the Yarrawarra Forum. Credit: Emma Shumack

What’s next?

A steering committee has now been established to oversee the co-design of an outreach program to be delivered by Indigenous engineers on Country, building on the ideas proposed during the Yarrawarra Forum. Two pilot initiatives are currently in development in Far North Queensland, and reflections from those programs will inform a national approach to support the next generation of Indigenous engineers.

At this exciting and formative stage, the program needs support from the engineering and philanthropic sectors. If you or your organisation would like to help enable the next phases of this groundbreaking program, please contact Grace Roberts, EWB Australia Pathways Outreach Program Manager at g.roberts@ewb.org.au.

If you’re interested in being part of Engineers Australia’s Indigenous Engineers Group, you can find out more and sign up here.

The IEG and EWB Australia would like to thank event sponsor Aurecon for their support of the Yarrawarra Forum.

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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.

Travelling far and wide

In 2022, more than 100 volunteers from EWB Australia’s University Chapters packed their bags and took to the road, and air, to inspire the next generation of socio-technical engineers.

They engaged with more than 4,200 school students, taking them through hands-on workshops that explore real-life scenarios; like creating water filtration systems, appropriate housing and renewable energy systems.

The workshops are designed to be a fun experience for students to reflect on how engineers contribute positively to society and the possibilities that could exist for them in a STEM profession. Facilitated by diverse groups of engineering university students, they showcase a wide variety of engineering disciplines – sharing what an engineer can look like and what they can do – particularly the positive impact engineers can have on people, communities and the world.

With support from RS Group, a global solutions provider, the volunteer facilitators delivered workshops in schools in the Illawarra, Central Tablelands, Central Coast, mid North Coast, and Hunter regions of New South Wales, in Victoria’s Gippsland region, in the Torres Strait Islands, South West Western Australia, and South West and Far North Queensland.

“[The trip] has made me recognise the importance of programs like these to rural areas. For these kids, this might be the only [chance they have to explore] engineering before leaving school, so these programs are super important in showing the students the possibility of a career in STEM,” reflected one of the EWB Chapter volunteers.

Students testing their floating structure during the appropriate housing activity.

Showing that engineering is for all

Along with a focus on reaching students living in regional or remote areas, the program also aims to engage other cohorts that are underrepresented in STEM professions, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, women, and people from lower socioeconomic areas. The results from this year’s participants were heartening.

14.2% of students who participated in South West WA identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. Following the workshop, those students reported an average increase of 17.4% when asked to rate how interested they are in science or engineering as a career, compared to their response before the workshop. An increase of 18.1% was recorded for the same question for students identifying as female – both above the average increase for all students (16.3%).

One student from that South West WA trip commented, “I like that you guys told me that not just men can be an engineer.” Another said, “I know now what I want to grow up to be – I want to grow up to be an engineer, one that makes the big fans that produce energy for the world.”

Connecting with purpose

Along with the impact on school students, Regioneering provides an environment for engineering university students who are passionate about making a difference in the community to connect with like-minded peers. It also provides the opportunity for volunteers to develop their skills in facilitation, public speaking and leadership.

“This trip provided me with amazing opportunities to interact with kids from different backgrounds and share my experiences and love of STEM with them. It allowed me to develop my confidence in running workshops alongside a fantastic and enthusiastic team. This trip has empowered me to do more outreach, volunteering, and become more involved in EWB!” – EWB Chapter Regioneering Volunteer

RS Group’s support of the Regioneering program has also provided the opportunity for University Chapter volunteers to gain important skills for working with diverse communities before embarking on their Regioneering trips. Enabled by RS Group, a training course was developed in 2022 which guides Regioneers through topics such as challenging assumptions and biases, creating positive relationships and engaging inclusive, accessible and effective ways.

Planning is currently underway for the next round of Regioneering trips, which take place in winter 2023.

To learn more about EWB Australia’s Outreach programs and to see how you could be involved, click here.

EWB Australia would like to thank RS Group for their support of Regioneering.

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Charli had always wanted to make a difference in the lives of others. She thought the best way to do so would be to become a human rights lawyer, and was set to study Arts/Law. But a part of her was wishing there was a way she could pursue that passion in a more technical profession.

So, when she met then-EWB Australia volunteer Field Professional Jimi Metcalfe in Cambodia, and he told her about the way EWB Australia works with local communities, it was a life-altering moment.

“I discovered there was a way to follow my technical and scientific interests while also having that human and social justice element.”

Charli scrapped the Arts/Law plan and enrolled in engineering at Australian National University (ANU) instead.

Fast-forward four years and Charli’s passion for socio-technical engineering and impactful involvement with EWB’s ACT Chapter has now seen her win a $10,000 donation for EWB Australia from her employer’s charitable arm, as voted by her peers.

Seeing the similarities

In May, Women in GHD (WING) launched WINGs of Change – an internal competition that celebrates the impact of their staff in their communities. Charli and her colleagues were asked to nominate a cause they were passionate about and involved in that aligned with the GHD Foundation’s mission – the charitable arm of the organisation. Charli thought EWB would be a great match. In May this year, Charli was announced as one of the two winners from the Asia-Pacific region, meaning EWB Australia would be one of seven recipients worldwide. “It was all quite embarrassing, but very wonderful,” reflects Charli.

Looking forward, Charli has a clear vision for the impact of the donation. The donation will enable important, community-led work with Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities to improve access to engineering, technology and infrastructure in order for those communities to thrive. It will also support overseas projects that develop the services and technologies that kids need to safely access education – like the development of ceramic water filters that provide access to safe drinking water for kids in Timor-Leste schools.

A celebration of dedication

Charli and Angus Mitchell, EWB Australia’s Technology Development Lead, celebrating the WINGs of Change grant.

The WINGs of Change competition celebrated staff involvement in their communities, and Charli’s history with the EWB ACT Chapter is undeniably impressive.

After that moment of discovery in Cambodia, Charli arrived at ANU and wasted no time joining the ACT Chapter. By her second week, she was Secretary – a position she has recently vacated after three and a half years.

“I’ve had some great friends teaching me the ropes along the way and now I get to show other people the ropes – which is great!”

Inspired by ANU professor and former EWB Australia staff member Jeremy Smith, Charli jumped at the chance to take humanitarian engineering subjects whenever they were offered. She took up two opportunities to be involved in project-based classwork on the solar trailer project – a collaboration between the Centre for Appropriate Technology, EWB Australia, ANU and other industry partners.

Charli at Nguuruu Farm during the Local Design Summit.

Charli had also been looking forward to taking part in the Humanitarian Design Summit, but the pandemic quashed those plans. Making an opportunity out of disappointment, Charli and the EWB ACT Chapter designed and delivered the Local Design Summit instead. Launched in 2022 on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country, the Local Design Summit is an intensive practical learning experience featuring workshops, fieldwork, and design challenges centred around local First Nations engagement and the core disciplines of humanitarian engineering, decolonisation, and sustainable development.

Earlier this year, Charli won the Natasha Linard Scholarship for Women in Engineering and Technology – which is awarded by ANU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science to a female ANU student that has demonstrated a commitment to socio-technical issues through mentorship, encouragement, or application. She has pledged half of the scholarship money to help fund the continuation of the Local Design Summit.

“When I saw there was this scholarship for encouraging women in STEM and encouraging socio-technical engineering, I just felt it was the perfect fit and an opportunity to secure funding for the second iteration of the Local Design Summit.”

A renewable future

Charli has just set off for a year-long exchange in South Korea as part of the New Colombo Plan Scholarship Program. She sees the trip as an opportunity to improve her socio-technical engineering skillset.

“Engineering, technology and the tools around us are so shaped by our perspective, so I think the opportunity to learn another language and learn engineering from a different cultural perspective will be really worthwhile.”

In South Korea, Charli’s looking forward to taking electives in renewable energy and environmental engineering. While it’s still early days, this is where she sees her future. A career vision, Charli says, that was sparked in class with Jeremy Smith at ANU.

“My big interest area is accessible renewable technologies, and it’s funny because I think the solar trailer project was really what started that all for me.

I feel so grateful to have found passions, volunteering, a job, and a career that I find so fulfilling.”

In early 2023 Charli will go back to where it all started – travelling to connect with EWB Australia in Cambodia to see first-hand the work enabled by the donation.

If you’d like to support EWB Australia’s work, please donate here.

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Across the world, 3.6 billion people are living without access to safe sanitation. 

For many communities, conventional, affordable and easy-to-construct toilets are not a viable option due to the environmental landscape of the areas they live in. This lack of accessible and safe sanitation has a deep impact on the health, economy, and environment of those affected communities. 

With teams in Cambodia, Vanuatu, and Timor-Leste, EWB’s Sanitation in Challenging Environments program exists to provide appropriate sanitation solutions for communities in need.

Water-efficient toilets in Cambodia

Around one-third of the Cambodian population resides in regions that are affected by high groundwater and flooding, which makes conventional sanitation facilities inappropriate. In Ratanakiri Province, this is compounded by time and energy-consuming access to water and limited water availability during the dry season.

To find a suitable sanitation solution in Ratanakiri, EWB Australia’s Cambodia team has been trailing how the SaTo pan can be successfully applied to the province’s challenging sanitation environment. 

The SaTo pan installed in Lumphat, Cambodia.

The SaTo pan is a lightweight plastic bowel that allows waste to flow towards an exit hole covered by a flap. When the pressure of the waste is applied, the flap opens, allowing the waste to flow out the exit hole and into a waste storage collection box, and then into a pit. The flap then returns to its position covering the exit hole.

Along with being relatively affordable, the SaTo pan is extremely water-efficient, therefore reducing the time and effort that the community members need to spend collecting water. Compared to the 3-5L of water needed to flush the traditional ceramic latrine pan, the SaTo pan uses 0.25-0.5L. This water efficiency is particularly important in the dry season when access to water in the drought-prone region is limited. 

The SaTo pan design also eliminates odours, flies and disease-spreading insects.

After a year-long trial in the Lumphat district of Ratanakiri, feedback sought from community members highlighted the SaTo pan’s water efficiency and affordability as perceived benefits. Those residents also found it easy to install, clean, and maintain.

Following the trial, research and analysis on the SaTo pan usage and implementation in rural areas has continued across Cambodia.

Combating high groundwater and flooding in Vanuatu

Community consultation in Erakor Bridge, Vanuatu

In Vanuatu, the Erakor Bridge Community resides in an area with high groundwater – in some parts, the water table is less than half a metre from the ground surface. The community also lies near the edge of the Erakor lagoon, which means residents are exposed to frequent flooding events. As such, standard sanitation systems simply aren’t appropriate. 

Residents have raised concerns about the lagoon’s pollution levels, which are in part due to waste discharge. Pollution in the lagoon has consequences for the health, livelihood and lifestyle of the community. An analysis of the water quality of the lagoon confirmed the community’s concerns. 

Erakor Bridge Community resident David Kalsal says, 

“The Department of Water Resources came live on national television to discuss the issue with the Erakor Lagoon. They have reported that the level of E. coli is very high, so they have warned residents and communities residing nearby to stop swimming in the lagoon, as well as to stop fishing.” 

EWB Australia’s team in Vanuatu has been working with the community, Vanuatu’s Ministry of Health (MoH) and NGO Field Ready to develop a solution that will combat the dual problems of flooding and high groundwater. 

The team has conducted an extensive community consultation process, with a focus on vulnerable groups, in order to find a solution that is sustainable and tailored for the environment and that will be accepted, used, and maintained by the community. The project has also included a community sanitation awareness campaign. 

Working with the MoH has created the opportunity to incorporate insights from the project in Vanuatu’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) National Guidelines.

Emergency sanitation response in Timor-Leste

On the back of severe floods in Timor-Leste in April 2021, thousands of residents were left to shelter in evacuation centers. Homes were damaged and destroyed, the water supply to around 30% of the population was cut off and drainage systems were impacted.  

With a team on the ground in Timor-Leste that has worked to address WASH in Timor-Leste communities for many years, EWB was able to immediately provide assistance when the floods occurred. 

Accessible toilet constructed in Ailok Laran and Mota-Kiik, Timor-Leste

An important step in this process was investigating the sanitation requirements of the 19 evacuation centres, in order to design solutions and coordinate implementation.

In addition to the flood response support, EWB’s team in Timor-Leste has been working to improve household sanitation in rural areas. Together with Oxfam, women-in-engineering group Feto Enginhera, and disability advocacy organisation RHTO, EWB installed four accessible toilets in households in the sub-villages of Ailok-Laran and Mota-Kiik. 

The team also designed and distributed a water two-wheel cart for the two villages, facilitating easier access to far-away water sources – which is crucial for safe sanitation. 

You can support communities living with sanitation in challenging environments by donating here.

EWB’s international program is supported by the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) and generous donors.

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The EWB Influencer Fellowship is a program to create a network of progressive graduates helping to reform practice and culture in the engineering sector. It seeks to create a more diverse human-centred sector supporting equitable and sustainable development by producing graduate engineers that are able to lead change.

Over two semesters, the Influencer Fellows receive professional mentoring (supported by development mentoring partner WhyDev), training and education, helping them to develop the skills and networks needed for them to influence the changes they want to see in the world.

Bec Micallef, Adele van der Winden and Ally Moodie were awarded the inaugural Influence for Peace scholarships, supported by the Medical Association for the Prevention of War. 

Now one semester in, Bec has been reflecting on what she’s learnt so far. Bec says she has found that developing her own theory of change has helped her realise the positive impact she can have on the world from the very beginning of her engineering career.

Adele began her degree wanting to combine civil engineering with her passion for social justice. Now approaching the end of her studies, Adele says she has found great benefit in the industry insight her Influencer Fellowship mentor has shared with her, and has enjoyed discussing the future opportunities in humanitarian engineering that are available to her.

Emily Gerrard and Yafet Bereket Araya were awarded university partner scholarships, supported by EWB’s valued university partners – the University of Technology Sydney and Australian National University.

For Emily, the Influencer Fellowship has revealed the power that engineers have in driving positive social change, and the influence that fresh graduates can have in that process.

Find out more about the EWB Influencer Fellowship and the 2021 Fellows.

The post Reflecting on the first semester of EWB’s Influencer Fellowship appeared first on Engineers Without Borders Australia.

The Erakor Bridge Community is situated on the edge of the lagoon and consists of low-lying areas with high groundwater. In some areas, the water table is less than half a metre from the ground surface, leaving residents prone to frequent flooding events. These environmental factors mean standard sanitation systems aren’t appropriate and good sanitation is harder to access. 

As part of EWB’s commitment to sanitation in challenging environments, our team based in Vanuatu has been working with the Erakor Bridge Community and Vanuatu’s Ministry of Health (MoH). Together, they are working to develop onsite wastewater treatment systems that are appropriate for the local environment.

With a ban on fishing in place and concerns around the safety of swimming in Emten Lagoon, it’s hoped a sanitation solution will lead to better livelihoods and health outcomes for the local communities.

A community-led pollution solution

The EWB team on the ground in Vanuatu is using EWB’s Technology Development Approach (TDA) to provide a platform for an effective and community-led solution. The TDA is an integrated version of Human Centred Design which includes consulting with the local community, as well as considering environmental factors and the long term sustainability of technologies. It will allow the team in Vanuatu to develop a sustainable and tailored solution that will be owned and led by either community groups or local businesses.

At the start of 2021, the EWB team conducted an awareness program around Emten Lagoon’s pollution levels, transmission routes for contamination, and existing sanitation guidelines. Focus groups were run to canvas community input, ensuring the inclusion of vulnerable groups in the prototype development process.

Progress through collaboration and partnerships

Having captured community preferences, EWB is now in the process of reviewing the Project Requirement Document (PDR). Once the PDR is complete, a list of concepts will be finalised and presented to the community through another round of focus group discussions. These consultations provide the opportunity to find the community’s preferred solution.

With one prototype being developed for use in a community hall,  plans will also be created for ongoing community monitoring and maintenance. Another prototype will be built for home use, which families will be able to maintain themselves. 

EWB is partnering with Field Ready for the design and prototyping process, who will provide support and workshop space for the upcoming prototype development phase. The prototyping phase is expected to be completed by the end of August.

Through partnership with the MoH, the project also provides the opportunity to incorporate the knowledge gained through the project into Vanuatu’s WASH National Guidelines.

EWB is able to continue to work on important projects such as this during the pandemic due to our investment in skilled local staff. 

Featured Image: Satellite image of Emten Lagoon on Efate Island, Vanuatu. Credit: Google Earth and CNES/Airbus.

EWB’s work in Vanuatu is a joint programme between EWBA and EWBNZ and receives support from both the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) and the New Zealand Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAT). You can also donate to support our work in Vanuatu.

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A sneak peak at the preliminary findings suggests the workshops are achieving their aims, breaking down stereotypes associated with engineering and fostering a deeper understanding of STEM.

Long-term engagement model

The EWB Torres Strait Regioneering program has been developed as a version of School Outreach tailored for First Nations students and students in remote communities. While School Outreach workshops are typically once-off experiences, this alternative approach was designed to foster longer-term engagement in groups that are underrepresented in STEM. To do this, the workshops are delivered by a diverse group of volunteers to younger students on an annual basis. 

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were the first engineers of Australia and continue to be the custodians of this country. By providing students the opportunity to learn about engineering and see the impact it could have on their communities, I hope we can provide further avenues to allow for a diverse generation of engineers. Acknowledging the wealth of traditional knowledge First Nations people have and including their voices at the forefront will help solve many of the complex problems facing our country today,” says Erin.

Erin has been leading EWB’s Torres Strait Regioneering trips since the program’s inception in 2016. Having grown up in the Torres Strait, her first hand experience inspired the development of this alternative model. 

“Growing up in the Torres Strait I didn’t have access to these opportunities when I was in primary school. These trips were developed as a way for students to understand more about the opportunities available in STEM and break down some of the barriers which prevent many remote/regional and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students accessing these fields,” reflects Erin.

The Mecca M-Power grant enabled Erin to evaluate whether this long-term engagement approach was meeting its aims. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this research has been delayed, with Erin relocating to the Torres Straits for 11 months to continue the data gathering process.

The program and the continuation of the research is beginning to return to normal, and preliminary findings point towards positive outcomes.

Measuring impact

To evaluate the program’s effectiveness, 31 students from Badu Island Primary School, Thursday Island Primary School and Thursday Island Secondary School were asked a series of questions on their perceptions of engineering. This involved 20 students who had undertaken EWB workshops over a range of one to four years and a control group of 11 students who had not undertaken any workshops. The questions included:

• What do you think engineers do in their jobs?
• What sort of people choose to become engineers?
• What type of work would engineers in the Torres Straits do?

The students were also asked to draw an engineer with a packet of pencils with the full spectrum of skin colours to choose from.

Promising signs

While the research is still ongoing, there is a strong trend that indicates the program is proving effective. Students who have undertaken multiple EWB workshops:

• Have a greater understanding of what engineers do. Even students who participated in the workshops but did not specifically remember it had a deeper understanding of an engineer than those who had never participated in a workshop.
• Are less likely to assume the common stereotype that engineers are male.
• Demonstrated a better ability to link engineering to their local context.

Moving forward

Erin is confident that this approach has enabled meaningful and effective engagement with students in the Torres Strait. Fresh from delivering the 2021 workshops, she says it’s clear the program provides a crucial platform for engineering in the Torres Strait. 

Once the research is complete, Erin plans on presenting her findings to the participating schools before sharing them further. Stay tuned for the full outcomes of the project.

This article is produced as part of our RAP commitment to communicating our learnings and sharing case studies from implementing our RAP.

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Adele’s dedication to social justice started at home. Her mum has been her role model for compassion, generosity and understanding. At high school she found herself attracted to extra-curricular activities that had a social justice focus. She felt that whatever her future career might be, it was important to incorporate her values into it. 

“I have a lot of privilege in receiving the education and life experiences that I’ve had, and continue to have. This means that situations where people face obstacles in seeking these same human rights and education stand out as huge injustices to me and I want to be involved in addressing these issues.”

When Adele realised that she could combine the subjects she enjoyed with her passion for fairness, it sealed the deal. She knew that engineering was for her.

Engineering a social justice mindset

Adele stepped into university wanting to learn how she could integrate her Civil  Engineering degree with social justice. That desire meant she was quick to become involved with EWB. 

In her first year at the Queensland University of Technology, she took part in the EWB Challenge and joined the QUT Chapter. The next year, Adele took part in EWB’s Design Summit in Cambodia. It was her first taste of humanitarian engineering, and she was hooked. The Design Summit introduced Adele to students and mentors who shared her vision and was, in Adele’s words, a “formative experience”.

“I learned and grew a lot, surrounded by like-minded and very intelligent students and mentors, and got my first taste of humanitarian engineering,” reflects Adele.

Adele has been a dedicated volunteer with EWB and has also taken on important roles inside the QUT Chapter. She became the fundraising coordinator for the chapter in 2018, and continued as part of the executive team the next year. This year, she is capping off her studies as a Research Challenge participant. She views her involvement with EWB as a rounded learning experience.

“Being involved with EWB throughout my degree has been a huge motivator for me. I learnt about the existence of humanitarian engineering and appropriate technology, then about the need for each, then the application of each, then about how I could make a career involving these two things.”

Minor matters

In the second half of 2019, Adele packed her bags and set off for Canberra. ANU had just launched a humanitarian engineering minor, and she thought it would be perfect for her. She took the course as an intensive and became one of first to complete a formal humanitarian engineering minor at an Australian university.

Adele’s time at ANU gave her a broad knowledge base of humanitarian engineering. She learnt design approaches, appropriate technology and the ins and outs of Australia’s overseas development programs. 

Beyond the engineering subjects, she also took subjects in sociology and social sciences. This gave her an understanding of the fundamental issues that underpin the need for humanitarian engineering. These subjects provided contextual, non-technical knowledge, which Adele says isn’t always readily available to engineering students.

“They encouraged me to cultivate the critical thinking skills needed to understand the complexities and challenges of development, unpack global issues such as climate change and poverty, and really made me consider where my place – as someone hoping to work in this field – might be.

I strongly feel these skills would greatly benefit all engineering students; and I would love to see more universities teach humanitarian and sustainable engineering,” reflects Adele.

Follow this Fellow!

Adele at the Design Summit in Cambodia

Adele’s impressive resume of volunteer work and her outstanding mindset were recognised when she received an EWB Influencer Fellowship for 2021. The Influencer Fellowship supports final-year students who have displayed exceptional drive and commitment to using their skills to address social justice and sustainability. 

Adele’s remarkable passion for environmental and humanitarian engineering saw her become one of three inaugural recipients of the ‘Influencer for Peace’ Scholarship. The Fellowship compliments her undergraduate honours thesis project, which is looking at using technology to prevent human trafficking in refugee camps. 

The Fellowship is the perfect opportunity to build on her skills and help her pursue her dream career. The Influencer Fellowship has not only been an invaluable learning experience for Adele, it has also provided an opportunity to reflect. 

“The Fellowship has helped me to examine the opportunities and imperfections within the humanitarian engineering sector – and engineering sector in general – which has helped inform my understanding of what engineering should and could be.”

A vision for the future

While Adele hasn’t settled on her exact career path, she is crystal clear on its direction. Her experience at university and with EWB has made her certain that environmental and humanitarian engineering is for her.

“The skills I gained from my minor, and the skills I am currently learning from the EWB Influencer Fellowship, I believe, will be abundantly formative in helping me choose and navigate my career path.”

Looking to the future, Adele is hoping to see the experience of women in engineering improve. She’d like to see more girls being encouraged to take up engineering and more women filling leadership positions. She wants to hear the voices of women in STEM, from students to the most experienced, being heard, believed, and amplified.

“This is a change that is needed in Australia and is something we all need to play a part in,” she says.

Adele believes that through volunteering, you can influence others to stand up alongside you.

“Broadening the definition of engineering, including spreading the ideas that sustainable development and humanitarian engineering could form potential engineering career paths, is something I hope I have helped invoke in future and current engineering students.”

If you’re passionate about social justice and engineering, and would like to volunteer with EWB, you can sign up here.

The post Turning a passion for social justice into an engineering career – Adele van der Winden’s EWB Story appeared first on Engineers Without Borders Australia.

Jeremy himself had always had an interest in humanitarian causes. In 2005 as a research engineer working in the automotive and aerospace industries, he went along to a meeting of the fairly newly formed EWB ACT Chapter. He was interested in learning about EWB, but really didn’t see how it could apply to his area of work. Keen to show support of the Chapter, he attended the inaugural EWB National Conference. It was there, while listening to a speech about solar cookers in Malawi, that Jeremy had a lightbulb moment that would shape his career and the emergence of humanitarian engineering at ANU.

Lightbulbs, camera, action!

The speech, which talked about the need to involve local communities in co-designing solutions to local problems, aligned with what Jeremy had been working on in the automotive manufacturing sector. He realised his mindset was all wrong – his experience in systems engineering actually meant that he had lots to contribute.

Jeremy teaching at the ANU

Jeremy became an active chapter member, taking up the role of ACT Chapter Secretary and eventually President. He volunteered in the EWB office, which led to a role as a part-time member of EWB’s staff in the education team.

At that time, EWB had a handful of programs that were offered to universities – an undergraduate Research Program, the EWB Challenge and the School Outreach volunteering program. But Jeremy saw an opportunity to link these elements together more formally. 

One Friday afternoon Jeremy sat down with his then colleague, Lizzie Brown, and together they developed a formal university partnership program. What they created that Friday afternoon became the foundation of ANU and EWB’s long-lasting partnership. It was also the catalyst for what has now become a multi-layered partnership program that engages universities across Australia and New Zealand each year.

The origin story

When Jeremy first pitched the formal university partnership program idea to ANU, the university saw the benefits straight away. At the same time that Jeremy took the proposal to ANU, Lizzie was pitching it to the University of Queensland. In 2010 the two universities became EWB’s first formal university partners. Jeremy says ANU was excited about the partnership because of EWB’s reputation in the social impact space. 

“There weren’t many organisations in engineering or technology that had a national profile for doing that kind of engagement. It opened up new opportunities for students – both within the student experience and in what was being taught. It allowed ANU to open up how people view engineering,” reflects Jeremy.

ANU’s engineering undergraduate degree has a systems engineering basis. Jeremy says this basis made the inclusion of humanitarian engineering education easier. Not satisfied with initiating the partnership, Jeremy wanted to help actually implement it within the university. He was inspired to work out how to embed humanitarian engineering education at ANU, and completed a Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning to aid its implementation. 

In 2015, ANU collaborated with EWB to offer the first dedicated later-year humanitarian engineering elective in Australia. In the same year, Jeremy started a PhD in humanitarian engineering education, which he says surfaced the evidence that has now spawned the exciting developments in humanitarian engineering education that we’re now seeing at other universities. 

ANU alumn Becky Watts (right)

Two of the first students to graduate through the new humanitarian engineering final-year elective at ANU were Becky Watts and Darien Colbeck. Becky and Darien had been forging their own way before ANU had a formal minor on offer. Becky was inspired to take the humanitarian engineering pathway after participating in the EWB Challenge, where Jeremy, as lecturer, gave a talk on composting toilets. Becky’s undergraduate experience with ANU and EWB led to a role straight out of university as a Project Facilitator for EWB Australia’s Appropriate Technology initiative in Cambodia. Darien went straight to working for a local disability organisation. Seeing the kind of engineering vision that Becky and Darien were exploring through their first graduate positions was the moment when Jeremy thought: we’re onto something.

Today, the partnership with ANU is one of EWB’s longest and richest university partnerships. ANU now offers a formal minor in humanitarian engineering, which is attracting more and more socially conscious students.

A minor achievement

Adele van der Winden is one student who has taken up the minor. She was studying her undergraduate engineering degree at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), and was compelled to additionally complete the humanitarian engineering minor at ANU. Travelling from Brisbane for Canberra in 2019 turned out to be a great decision. 

“The minor stood out at the time, as it’s quite rare for universities to offer an entire minor, or more, in humanitarian engineering. I was drawn to ANU’s Humanitarian Engineering minor for a variety of reasons, ranging from the wide selection of subjects it offers, to how well it would complement my QUT degree course structure,” says Adele.

For Adele, the course went beyond gaining technical engineering knowledge. She liked that it explored the fundamental issues behind the need for humanitarian engineering. ANU’s minor involves subjects in sociology and social sciences, which she says were initially intimidating. These subjects, though, ended up being a pivotal learning experience.

“They encouraged me to cultivate the critical thinking skills needed to understand the complexities and challenges of development, unpack global issues such as climate change and poverty, and really make me consider where my place – as someone hoping to work in this field – might be,” says Adele. “For engineers working in the humanitarian engineering space, it’s this contextual, non-technical knowledge which is perhaps less readily available to us – but no less critically important.”

With the humanitarian engineering minor under her belt, Adele was selected as a 2021 EWB Influencer Fellow, the perfect opportunity, to build on that foundation.

“The skills I gained from my minor, and the skills I am currently learning from the EWB Influencer Fellowship, I believe, will be abundantly formative in helping me choose and navigate my career path. For me, that career path is not yet well defined, but thanks to this minor and the Fellowship, I feel more informed and confident to make these decisions and am excited to work in a field I am so passionate about. I strongly feel these skills would greatly benefit all engineering students; and I would love to see more universities teach humanitarian and sustainable engineering,” says Adele.

A superstar chapter

The impact of the EWB ACT Chapter, which is mainly composed of ANU students and alumni, speaks to the strength of the partnership. The ACT Chapter cleaned up at the 2020 Danny Awards – EWB’s annual recognition of the most outstanding volunteers in EWB’s Chapter network. It was an impressive feat considering the ACT Chapter has the smallest membership base. Chapter President Louise Bardwell says that the chapter’s success comes down to the dedication of its members.

Sarah Callinan

When Louise’s predecessor, Sarah Callinan, started her role as ACT Chapter President in 2019 she had just three committee members. In her time as President, Sarah grew the size of the chapter’s executive, while encouraging alumni to remain involved and fostering a diverse and inclusive culture. She won the 2020 EWB Leader & Mentor Danny Award for her achievements in this space. 

Along with Sarah’s award, Jess Weakley won the Newcomer Award for her dedication to generating greater awareness of humanitarian engineering. To cap it off, Elizabeth Elias and Briana Jones won the COVID-19 Adaption Award. Elizabeth and Briana were innovative in translating the School Outreach program from in-person to online. 

Louise Bardwell says the impact of the School Outreach program is one of the great successes of the ACT Chapter. 

“Through School Outreach and the many workshops we have facilitated in schools around the ACT, our chapter has grown both an understanding of, and passion for, humanitarian engineering. Especially in areas like sustainable development, climate change and women’s involvement in STEM, School Outreach plays an important role in teaching primary to high school aged students what a career in engineering could look like, and therefore how a degree in STEM provides them with the skills to solve important challenges facing communities,” says Louise.

Louise is another student that enrolled at ANU with humanitarian engineering in mind. She knew of ANU and EWB’s commitment to humanitarian engineering education and wanted to be involved. She sees the EWB and ANU partnership as one that broadens horizons and provides excellent project-based learning opportunities. 

“The EWB/ANU humanitarian engineering partnership provides ANU students with ongoing and active engagement with EWB, extending a students’ university degree beyond just their studies, to practical community-focused projects. Across core ANU engineering courses, students are able to select humanitarian engineering-focused design projects. In these projects, students have the opportunity to employ the new engineering skills they are learning to real-world design challenges, allowing them to witness first-hand the meaningful impact that engineering can have in local communities.”

Humanitarian engineering education’s ‘generation next’

ANU’s humanitarian engineering alumni are the early adopters that are starting to shape the future of the sector. Liam Highmore, a 2019 ANU systems engineering graduate, won the Undergraduate Research Award at the Global Undergraduate Awards, for a thesis project that was part of the EWB Research Challenge.

Liam Highmore (centre)

For Jeremy Smith, the success of humanitarian engineering education at ANU, and the EWB partnership, is in seeing students like Liam become the next generation of leaders. Liam found the ANU and EWB partnership important in shaping his academic life, professional career and personal development. 

Liam now works in telecommunications, but his interest in humanitarian activities remains strong. He is always looking at how he can apply his humanitarian engineering knowledge to make a positive impact. He says this is “something I’m not sure I would do, if it wasn’t for EWB and ANU”.

Incorporating his humanitarian engineering mindset in a traditional engineering role was initially challenging for Liam. But he has found he has been, mostly unconsciously, applying many humanitarian engineering principles into his work. Like his lecturer Jeremy Smith all those years ago, Liam sees how humanitarian engineering approaches mesh with ‘traditional’ engineering disciplines.

“Using a human-centred approach to customer problems, encouraging cross-disciplinary approaches which use a wide range of people and skills to get the most out of projects, and building capacity in other teams is similar to how we would if we were co-creating technology in a Cambodian community,” says Liam.

Liam is excited by the strides made in humanitarian engineering education across universities. The next step, he says, is translating that progress into the industry.

“I would love to see humanitarian engineering ‘professionalised’ as its own entity.  Just like there will always be a need for structural or electrical engineers, I think there will always be a place for humanitarian engineers.”

With the ANU and EWB partnership clearly nurturing the future engineering leaders that we know the sector needs, the ability for the sector to redefine its role in addressing some of the world’s most wicked problems is possible – creating a world where technology benefits all.

The post ANU Breaking New Ground In Humanitarian Engineering Education appeared first on Engineers Without Borders Australia.