Marlene Kanga, Chemical Engineer and Board Member across utilities, transport and innovation sectors
Australia
My inspiration as an engineer is a sense of purpose to use my abilities to make changes that will benefit people and the planet. I think the work that is done by EWB is very inspiring and makes the kind of difference that has always driven me in my career.
As President of WFEO, I led the proposal to declare 4 March each year as World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development. This Day is celebrated around the world every year and is growing in importance. I am so proud of this achievement which seemed like an impossible dream and is having a positive impact.
I also successfully led the review of the engineering education benchmarks that underpin engineering education and professional development in Australia and 30 countries around the world. This is the most significant change to the Framework since it was first developed in the early 1990s, and will ensure that engineers will advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals through their work, are critical thinkers, thoughtful about the impact and outcomes of their work, capable of working in diverse and inclusive teams and committed to lifelong learning. Again this was an impossible dream but the new benchmark has been embraced around the world and is informing new curricula for engineering education and I hope will change the way engineers think, develop and deliver projects in future.
Engineering presents endless possibilities. I am always proud of the job I have just finished but the next one is even more fascinating. It is an endless journey of discovery, innovation and achievement. I wish everyone a Happy World Engineering Day and I hope as engineers you also will strive for a better world.
Muaamar Mahyoub, Humanitarian Operations Director
EWB-Yemen
I joined humanitarian aid work in 2012 when the political crisis started in Yemen, which led to a civil war, and then to military interference by neighbouring countries in 2015.
The worst humanitarian crisis was made as a result of armed conflicts, lack of access for humanitarian aid workers, and poorly designed emergency response programs. The impact of humanitarian response was very poor. In 2020, I have joined five of my colleagues to establish EWB Yemen with the aim of supporting humanitarian aid agencies to achieve better impact.
Through EWB Yemen, I have participated in the development of many new humanitarian response techniques by adding localization and humanitarian engineering principles, resulting in better effectiveness, impact and community acceptance. I have also created a change by advocating good governance, policy change, and capacity building of local community actors. These efforts helped build the organisational capacity of more than 30 local NGOs in Yemen that all become main partners for the UN agencies and other INGOs, adding more value to humanitarian operations in Yemen through the development of a unified internal control systems for all local NGOs.
In 2022, I was moved to an executive voluntary role in EWB Yemen to manage the humanitarian operations with a vision of having one global movement of “Engineers Without Borders,” as initiated by EWB-I. Having the passion of creating positive change, I have been elected as a board member of EWB-I in February 2023 where I am passionate about promoting the value of having one pioneer global movement that can enhance stronger global influence, impact, and innovation.
Wiebke Hutiri, Trustworthy EdgeAI PhD & Co-Founder
EWB-South Africa
I am finishing my PhD on trustworthy AI at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands. My research develops scalable tools for AI practitioners to interrogate their systems for bias. The tools I am building now benefit from experience I have gained on data governance, data science and AI projects over the last decade. I have worked in many roles from programmer to project owner and collaborated with stakeholders in the non-profit, commercial, academic and public sectors on projects for the e-commerce, electricity, healthcare, biometrics and consumer technology industries.
In 2013 I co-founded EWB South Africa to drive youth leadership programmes, social impact projects and curriculum transformation in South Africa’s engineering and education sectors. I am particularly proud of the Data for Municipal Infrastructure Assets programme which we launched in 2019, and of the Engineering for People Design Challenge collaboration with EWB UK and USA. Varied as it may be, the foundation of all my work rests on the belief that technology is neither determinate nor inevitable, but the consequence of human choices. As engineers, scientists and researchers we carry the responsibility to ensure that the future we design and build is the future we imagine. To me, that future is sustainable, inclusive, diverse and allows all life to flourish.
Nav Sawhney, Founder of The Washing Machine Project
EWB-UK
I am the founder of The Washing Machine Project. Our mission is to alleviate the burden of hand-washing clothes. Women in many refugee camps and underdeveloped nations spend many hours hand-washing clothes, time that can be spent schooling or working to bring the family out of poverty. 70% of the world’s population lacks access to electric washing machines, and our off-the-grid washing solutions are affordable, portable and accessible for everyone, everywhere.
We are very mission-driven. It’s not by accident that we have taken on over 150 volunteers from all walks of life and 11 countries. Everyone is frustrated by this problem. Right now, we have 25 volunteers in nine different time zones and six different nationalities – from undergraduates to retirees. We are collaborative as a necessary force to help enact change, and we support people who are frustrated by their current working situations to nurture them to drive change and make a difference. Ideas are always welcome and autonomy is given. Now that we have significant funding, we can take on more full-time staff.
Without Engineers Without Borders UK, the Washing Machine project would not exist. My time on the international programme literally changed my life. It was the inspiration to create change and to do something practical with my skills. They were also able to plug The Washing Machine Project into a really strong network to move forward. I’m now lucky enough to sit on the board of advising directors.
Lydia Kyokaali, Uganda Country Program Manager
EWB-East Africa in Partnership with EWB-USA
I am a Registered Engineer with the Engineer’s Registration Board of Uganda and a Member of the Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers. I am also a certified Project Management Professional accredited to the Global Project Management Institute and serve as the Uganda Country Program Manager for the International Community Program of Engineers Without Borders East Africa in partnership with Engineers Without Borders USA.
We partner with underprivileged communities to meet their basic needs through engineering. Poverty and access to water are interlinked. One in three African citizens are impacted by water scarcity while 400 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to basic drinking water. Inaccess to water pushes regions further and further away from achieving several of the United Nations’ Global Goals. Our work at Engineers Without Borders East Africa enables us to leverage on our engineering skills to create real time impact and transformation through projects in our communities in East Africa.