Exploring the Position of Humanitarian Engineering in Australia

Context: The position of an engineering field, such as a discipline, specialisation, or area of practice, reflects the body of knowledge, skills and techniques required to practice. Humanitarian Engineering, which was recognised with a 6-digital Field of Research code in 2020, works within a range of contexts and communities where there are inherent power imbalances, and decisions and actions that affect immediate livelihoods and wellbeing. This can be considered similar to fields within Engineers Australia such as Amusement Rides and Devices (an area of practice) and Fire Safety (both an area of practice and technical society). These fields do not have large memberships, but are sufficiently specialised and high risk to require dedicated scrutiny. Humanitarian Engineering can be considered to warrant similar levels of enhanced scrutiny of its practice and education. Purpose: The Engineers Australia Humanitarian Engineering Community of Practice have devised a six-item agenda for the professionalisation of Humanitarian Engineering in Australia. This seeks to bring the same level of rigour, review, and recognition to Humanitarian Engineering as for any field, area of practice or discipline of engineering. This study set out to determine a broad consensus on the position of Humanitarian Engineering within existing frameworks in response to the agenda. Approach: The study adopted a modified Delphi method in which key stakeholders and representatives of Humanitarian Engineering education and practice in Australia were invited to a workshop to openly discuss and debate the position of Humanitarian Engineering in Australia. A pre-workshop survey established a starting point for discussion at a 2-hour workshop while a post-workshop survey identified and tested key insights and findings. Outcomes: A specific position on Humanitarian Engineering in Australia was not reached during the workshop. Rather, underlying assumptions were challenged and tested. Humanitarian Engineering was indeed considered to need higher levels of review and accountability, underpinned by key values and principles. A more specific set of next steps were identified in order to address unresolved questions and provide further analysis to support a potential position. Recommendations: Humanitarian Engineering education and practice should be subject to a high level of scrutiny to ensure appropriate education and practice. Regardless of a specific position and definition, further discussion and critique from within and outside engineering in Australia must continue.Nick J Brown, Jeremy Smith, Scott Daniel and Cris Birze

The impact of curriculum content in fostering inclusive engineering: data from a national evaluation of the use of EWB projects in first year engineering

The year of Humanitarian Engineering draws our attention to the need to develop engineers who are not just technically competent but who can effectively address the needs of communities, maintain their ethical responsibilities, and take sustainability into consideration. This is what we understand by inclusive engineering. One approach to introducing such considerations into the curriculum has been the widespread use of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) projects in development settings as first year learning opportunities. We are evaluating different uses of these projects in 13 universities around Australia and New Zealand using a program logic data gathering methodology and a critical realist analytic approach to answer the research question 'what works for whom under what circumstances?' In this paper we will concentrate mainly on one of these sites The University of Queensland. Data reveals that the EWB projects have great potential for raising issues of community involvement, ethics and sustainability but that the content of projects alone cannot guarantee that such objectives are addressed. Contextual factors, including: the focus of the course (e.g. professional development versus design), the attitudes of staff, and the pedagogy used all contribute to the successful pursuit of non-technical objectives. Projects with little obvious humanitarian or inclusive content such as one for long-wall supports in mining were found to foster context-sensitive approaches. In addition to project content, educators who are seeking to develop humanitarian and inclusive engineers need to pay attention to consistently expressed goals and values amongst the teaching team and the alignment of assessment (in style and weighting) with clearly stated learning goals

The Theatre of Humanitarian Engineering

An experimental role-playing course designed by an interdisciplinary team of faculty from engineering and the humanities puts students imaginatively into a complex nineteenth-century context as they consider how to provide a waste management solution for an expanding urban population. This role-playing game (RPG) puts students in the roles of actual people living in a turn-of-the-century industrial city in central Massachusetts. While immersing themselves in the roles of engineers, industrialists, elected officials, workers, scientists, public health officials, inventors, and city residents, students learn and practice engineering concepts (engineering design, stakeholder analysis, mass balance, sewage treatment, material properties and selection, sewage properties and conveyance, statics and stress, filtration and chemical precipitation, and so on). These engineering concepts are not abstracted from social, political, and economic considerations. Rather, engineering is imbued with social context. The RPG offers students opportunities to reflect on economic, geographical, economic, and philosophical issues while learning the technical skills they need to make informed decisions to address the needs of a rapidly expanding population. ASEE 2017 Paper ID #1797

SUNY-ESF Engineering for a Sustainable Society: Changing the World One Community at a Time

Students at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) started humanitarian engineering clubs called Engineering for a Sustainable Society Club and Engineers Without Borders Club (jointly, ESS/EWB) to achieve the student ambitions of improving the world putting theory into practice. Each humanitarian engineering project managed by the ESF students in these clubs has the goal of delivering more ecosystem and engineered services to benefit those with the greatest need while addressing environmental, economic, and social sustainability criteria. For every trip, design, and implementation project ESS/EWB adopts, the clubs dedicate 1000s of person hours to research on appropriate humanitarian engineering methods; most students have taken ESFs Humanitarian Engineering course to train in these methods. Over time members have expanded their knowledge of erosion control, water treatment and supply, hydro-electric generation, photovoltaic installation, sustainable construction, and cultural diversity as well as technical skills including professional reporting and communication, computer aided design, and mapping. The ESS/EWB clubs have successfully created an erosion management plan to protect coral reefs in Roatan, Honduras, funded and built a community water supply for a village in Honduras, brought solar panels and new hydroelectric generator technology to a village in Peru and Dominica, and initiated new projects for watershed reforestation and soil regeneration through human waste composting for areas of Haiti and improving sanitation conditions for a primary school in the Palajunoj Valley in Guatemala. The ESS/EWB clubs are empowering communities to sustain their resources while improving their quality of life. The ESS/EWB clubs plan to continue to revolutionize humanitarian relief across the globe by providing long-term, innovative, and sustainable solutions for generations to come

Developing professional competencies for humanitarian engineers

One of the roles of engineering institutions is the registration and regulation of engineering professionals, assessing their competence in both technical and management areas. A similar approach is being promoted for professional humanitarian engineers, identifying core competencies relevant to emergency relief work. This would improve standards in the workforce, allow training and experience to be independently evaluated, and facilitate the careers of people working in a very mobile sector. Using the experiences of RedR UK in recruiting and training humanitarian engineers, this paper explores the skills, knowledge and other attributes that distinguish an enthusiastic but ill-informed and inexperienced person from somebody with the expertise to work efficiently, effectively and ethically in a challenging humanitarian context

Technologies for Development: From Innovation to Social Impact

Development Engineering; Technologies for Development; Innovation for Humanitarian Action; Emerging Countries; Developing Countries; Tech4De

UMaine Today: Special Edition

Promotional magazine for the University of Maine\u27s College of Engineering. This issue explores the energy generation and energy transmission-related engineering programs being conducted by faculty, staff, and students with the College of Engineering. Topics include humanitarian projects undertaken by the Construction Engineering Technology, biomedical engineering student projects, water quality monitoring, and the Advanced Manufacturing Center developing product prototypes.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/umaine_today/1064/thumbnail.jp

UMaine Today: Special Edition

Promotional magazine for the University of Maine\u27s College of Engineering. This issue explores the energy generation and energy transmission-related engineering programs being conducted by faculty, staff, and students with the College of Engineering. Topics include humanitarian projects undertaken by the Construction Engineering Technology, biomedical engineering student projects, water quality monitoring, and the Advanced Manufacturing Center developing product prototypes.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/umaine_today/1064/thumbnail.jp