Engineering students helping communities in the developing world

News, News for Students — By Greta Harrison on February 22, 2012 3:03 pm

Engineering students at the University of Melbourne are using their skills to pursue humanitarian engineering projects in the developing world.

From designing sanitation systems for a floating Cambodian village to devising innovative new stoves for a remote Papua New Guinea community, students are proving that engineering has the capacity to make a huge difference to everyday lives.

A team of engineering students last year travelled to the floating communities on the Tonle Sap River in Cambodia, where they helped implement a revolutionary biodigester gas capture and storage sanitation system.

The new sustainable waste treatment system is able to capture the methane gas created by the biodigestion of household waste, allowing it to be put to practical use, such as for cooking.

Engineering students and researchers also make regular field trips to Cambodia and Vietnam to work on low cost prosthetics to assist amputees.

A student team mentored by Associate Professor Peter Lee and Sheridan Laing travelled to Vietnam to assist in field trials of new prosthetic sockets.

A student group has also been making life easier for the community of Ilahita in the remote north of Papua New Guinea, offering innovative solutions to local challenges.

Since 2008 groups of students, mentored by Dr Graham Moore, have been travelling to the region on a yearly basis for two weeks at a time, assisting the community with issues such as water, sanitation and health.

Civil engineering student Fergie Romero travelled on the 2010 Ilahita expedition and was on the organising committee for last year’s visit.

She said the Ilahita project was the best thing she had done during her time at university.

“This is the reason that I got into engineering in the first place.”

“It really puts things in perspective, from a humanitarian point of view, of how much of a challenge it is to manage expectations; your own and those of the community.”

“Obviously you’re not going to go there for 15 days and be able to solve all their problems.”

“But it was one of the most valuable things I’ve ever done.”

Fergie said the students assisted with the repair of hand pumps that had broken down and the provision of alternative fuels for cooking that reduced the widespread problems of smoke inhalation and associated health issues, including blindness.

She said the students had also designed an ingenious new stove using readily available materials, which had been a huge hit with the locals.

Fergie said that with sheet metal too expensive for the locals, the students found that used tuna tins could be straightened out and fashioned into a barrel-shaped stove.

“By the time we left, eight or nine households had taken up the new stoves. Then soon after we returned we found out that idea had taken off in the capital city, which is six or seven hours away. We were all really pleased and surprised with the outcome.”

More information about the Ilahita expedition is available at the Melbourne Engagement and Partnerships Office.

Students discussed the Cambodian sanitation project with ABC News 24.

Tags: biomedical engineering, chemical and biomolecular engineering, computer science and software engineering, computing and information systems, electrical and electronic engineering, infrastructure engineering, mechanical engineering, MSE, Volunteer