Real-life development engineering opportunities through EWB

By Lynne Richardson
Mainzeal’s Ross Copland spent two weeks in tsunami-ravaged Samoa in November, leading a small team from Engineers Without Borders New Zealand (EWBNZ), but says the organisation is less about providing disaster relief, and more about sustainable, long-term, community-led development engineering.

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is essentially a nongovernmental organisation that operates in several countries worldwide. It works on infrastructure projects in developing countries to provide technical engineering solutions for disadvantaged communities. With many of the world’s pressing development and sustainability issues being technical in nature, the widely acknowledged need for engineers to take a much greater role in addressing these issues was a driving force behind the formation of EWB.

The majority of EWB organisations worldwide are strongly linked to academia and students. EWBNZ is no different. Its foundations began in 2006 when a group of eight engineering students from the University of Auckland undertook a water scheme design for World Vision in Vanuatu, and an assessment programme of village-managed water schemes in Samoa in 2007. The impact of these trips inspired another group to travel to Samoa in 2007. Their work included installing water tanks and, together with the locals, the design and construction of a new wharf in a remote community.

The two Auckland-based groups merged in early 2008, combining their experiences and adopting the EWB international model for engineering aid. Independent of this, a group from the University of Canterbury recognised the need for an administration body for engineering aid work, and student Sofian Irsheid concluded that the EWB model, given its success in Australia, could also be applied successfully in New Zealand. These two branches now form the national body of EWBNZ.

Making a difference

The Kiwi organisation has grown rapidly and now comprises around 300–400 members, including a group of professional engineers based in Auckland. This year EWBNZ will hire its first fulltime staff member to support its programmes and operations. An advisory board – chaired by Professor Peter Brothers, a respected engineer and academic – provides direction and guidance.

Mainzeal Property and Construction’s sustainability manager, Ross Copland, is the national CEO for EWBNZ, and says sustainable development is at its core. “While wealthy Western nations continue to enjoy the luxuries of abundance and waste, developing nations cannot. One of the key challenges for development engineers working with developing communities is decoupling the traditional relationship between prosperity and pollution. This is a huge challenge that is more immediately felt in poor island states where resource scarcity and low economic wealth are daily realities and real development constraints. “

As such, EWB engineers are faced with the global development constraints of the future, and learn to think beyond traditional design practice,” Ross adds. “Sea level rise, fuel and resource scarcity are already being dealt with in the Pacific – issues that will soon become front of mind for New Zealand. That kind of insight and experience is simply unavailable via any other educational medium or university programme. EWB is growing and developing an enlightened, prepared engineer of the future, and making a difference in struggling communities in the process.”

How does it work?

EWBNZ works with other charitable organisations, such as World Vision, mostly within Pacifica countries, on long-term infrastructure projects where communities lack technical engineering expertise. As an incorporated society and a registered charity, the organisation receives funding from NZAID, the government agency (administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) that manages New Zealand’s official development assistance (ODA) programme.

Members give their time voluntarily, “although as professionals we sometimes struggle to balance this with our day jobs,” Ross says. Engineering students country-wide are encouraged to get involved, and EWBNZ continues to have a close relationship with the universities of Auckland and Canterbury, along with AUT. “

We run a design challenge for students at various levels of study each year,” Ross explains. “It’s all about fostering an appreciation of real problems faced by communities in the developing world and developing appropriate technical solutions to address these.”

First held in 2008 for students at the University of Auckland, the challenge involved a series of renewable energy-based design projects in Vanuatu, with consideration of sustainable development, innovation and appropriateness of design. In 2009, EWBNZ joined forces with EWB Australia for a challenge focused on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, a combined lake and river system of vital importance to the country. “

For students in years one to three, they tend to be more specific-type projects, such as design a wind turbine from recycled materials,” Ross explains. “For fourth year, masters and PhD students, the projects are more complex, and can involve the students visiting the communities to see what engineering problems exist, to prioritise what needs to be addressed, and then to design the best solution to the problem.”

Opportunity for employers

Ross is quick to emphasise that whilst EWBNZ provides wonderful opportunities for engineering students to gain an appreciation of real-life problems and to develop workable solutions, it is also a ‘fertile field’ for employers looking for potential employees “These projects tend to attract well-rounded individuals,” he says, “and employers can identify early on those students who have the ideal mix – those who can come up with the right ideas that have relevance to the environment and are suited to the needs of the community. It’s not enough just to be a bright student – these days you have to be aware of the social, economic and environmental constraints and impacts of a proposed technical solution.”

And engineering is no longer the exclusive domain of males – 60 percent of the EWBNZ Auckland chapter comprises women engineers, a fact with which Ross is wholly in agreement. “Women are generally more intuitive – much more ‘in sync’ with societal issues – than men. They tend to engage far more readily with the community, which is a real advantage for gaining information when we’re on the ground trying to determine the real issues and problems. “

Of course we still need the guys, but it is encouraging to see women coming into engineering who are real ‘world-changing’ types. Engineering is now viewed as a viable alternative to medical careers for those with a desire to impact the lives of others – especially by those with the vision to see that engineering solutions can benefit entire communities rather than a fortunate few.”

Samoan experience On 29 September 2009, a submarine earthquake south of the Samoan Islands group generated a tsunami that swept ashore along the country’s south and east coast, causing substantial damage and loss of life. One of the hardest-hit areas was the southern coast of Upolu island where up to 15 km of water and sewer services affecting several villages was badly damaged or ripped out by the floodwaters.

EWBNZ became involved due to a previous working relationship with the Samoan Water Authority (SWA). “I’d been there in 2007, working on a project that aimed to document the status of independent water schemes in Samoan villages,” Ross explains. “Although EWBNZ doesn’t normally get involved with disaster relief, I was persuaded to return to Samoa following the tsunami to assist SWA engineers with reestablishing the main water on the ground. “

We were up there for 17 days in the end,” Ross says. “We managed to get the main water line up and running again, and made repairs to a number of schools that had been overwhelmed with extra numbers – imagine triple the usual number of students all trying to use one school’s toilets. One of the big problems we encountered was delivering water to displaced people. After the tsunami, many had fled to the hills, understandably. It will take months for them to feel comfortable about returning to rebuild their homes, and many never will.”

The team also made a longer-term assessment of the availability of alternative sources of water from inland lakes and springs with the assistance of Royal New Zealand Air Force helicopters.

Political vs practical

It’s vital that the country re-establishes its tourism industry to get the economy up and running again, Ross says, but the Samoan government faces a real balancing act between spending on new infrastructure or repairing existing services.

It’s not a unique situation. EWBNZ often faces the conundrum where the projects its engineers can see will work are not necessarily the solutions of choice with the local government. “It can be frustrating,” Ross says. “It’s often a juggling act between solutions that work in practice, and those that work politically.” He gives examples from his experiences of the past which have required a high degree of patience and diplomacy on behalf of EWB engineers to come to an agreed decision with the local governing bodies. “

We provide independent unbiased advice based on our expertise, and solutions that we think will work,” Ross says in conclusion, “but they’re not always well received. Ultimately the challenge is finding an appropriate technical solution – one which appeases the political and social influences whilst also meeting technical, environmental and budget constraints.”

EWBNZ is looking for professional members to be involved in the identification and implementation of projects and initiatives that come under its three areas of activity: projects, awareness, and education. For further information about membership or sponsorship, visit www.ewb.org.nz