For most, engineering entails innovative designs, complex problem-solving and ground-breaking solutions. However, for a group of students from The Australian National University (ANU), a recent trip to Timor-Leste as part of the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Humanitarian Design Summit revealed that engineering is just as much about understanding society, people, and the complex socio-technical needs and impact of engineering on communities as it is about the technology and innovation.
Engineering Without Borders is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Australia, with state and university chapters which connects individuals with a passion for human-centred engineering. Several engineering students and academics at ANU are actively involved in the ACT chapter.
On the Summit, students spent two weeks in Timor-Leste visiting a range of communities and organisations to understand their work, challenges, and impacts. This included Abundant Water, a Canberra based NGO working in Timor-Leste to ensure clean drinking water for households and schools.
Maxine Wu, a third-year undergraduate student pursuing a double degree in engineering and science reflects on the trip’s profound impact, “Through this trip, I was able to engage in humanitarian and training practices and learn what it means to design in complex environments as well as in places with limited resources.”
“The crux of human-centred design is putting the stakeholders or the people you are designing for, as the main part of the solution.” As part of her research project, she is working on the Abundant Water household filters focusing on the mineral pad that is responsible for the taste. With her background in Chemistry, she is examining the iron concentrations in the water and the number of ions, cations and anions being released into the water, which affects the longevity of the pads.
“This trip has honestly been quite life-changing in a lot of ways. I’ve always been very passionate about the development space and humanitarian engineering, and my hopes and dreams are to get involved in the field.”
– Maxine Wu
Associate Dean – Education, Associate Professor Jeremy Smith at the ANU College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics, who accompanied the students on the trip, emphasised understanding the intersection between technology and community. “Students start to recognise that communities value social connections, traditions, and histories, and the benefits and impacts technology and engineering can have, not the technology itself. Understanding this interaction between technology and society is critical and essential for creating more impactful, accessible, and equitable engineering.”
The students are collaborating with partners like EWB and Abundant Water, validating project assumptions, collecting samples for testing and gaining a more extensive understanding of their research than they could ever gain through textbooks or background research.
“The trip brings the context of the research to the fore, making the ANU based research of Timor-Leste more realistic and hence increases the value and relevance of the research for our partners,” says Jeremy.
A day in the life: waking up with roosters and coffee plantations
As part of the immersive experience, students had the opportunity to live with rural families and connect with the local community. A typical day would involve being woken up early by roosters with breakfast being delivered on a perpetually late scooter, all part of the experience. The students stayed with an “Amaa” (mom) and “Apaa” (dad) and their children. They were able to interact with the families and the larger community despite cultural differences, through simple hand gestures, non-verbal cues, playing with the kids and some help from translators. “I think there’s so much that isn’t just said with words, through just facial expressions or playing with the kids”, says Maxine.
The students also got to explore coffee plantations and immerse themselves in the local culture and community. Days were filled with fieldwork, research and collaborating with local organisations, while evenings allowed for some downtime with friendly soccer matches and even scavenger hunts that led to unexpected discoveries, like a live crocodile in a zoo behind a bar.
“There isn’t just one solution when it comes to humanitarian engineering problems,” Maxine reflects. “There are many social, political and cultural factors that we never see or hear about.”
“For example, rain. We thought, why don’t we just collect rainwater and then recycle that and use that to be drinkable? But we didn’t realise that there is a cultural perception around rainwater being quite contaminated.”
“What’s really interesting in the classroom is that you learn about these problems. The people are just, you know, theoretical in some sense. But going on the trip and meeting the people, seeing who you’re designing for and realising you’re not just designing for them, but with them and how important that is.”
Jeremy highlights the importance of taking learning outside of the classroom and challenging the students in unexpected ways, drawing on the skills and knowledge developed during their studies.
“Immersive experiences such as this enable students to develop critical skills and understanding about working in complex and unfamiliar environments. This includes the importance of teamwork, bringing together multiple perspectives and experiences, creativity, flexibility, and communication.”
Society at the crux of innovation
Charlotte (Charli) Fell, one of the students on the trip, was over the moon when she heard she was going on the EWB Humanitarian Design Summit. Currently pursuing a double degree in engineering and Asian studies, she is the president of Engineers Without Borders ACT Chapter after being on the executive committee for a couple of years.
Charli commends ANU for exposing her to opportunities in the humanitarian engineering field and instilling the importance of community consultation when designing technology. “If you try to implement a solution that wasn’t designed or doesn’t reflect their needs, it’s not going to work,” she says.
“Appropriate technology has to be designed with the community.”
Her biggest takeaway from the trip was understanding the value and need for community consultation and acknowledging that there will be differences in opinion within the community, which isn’t something you can learn in a traditional classroom setting. “How do you ensure that the people you’re communicating with aren’t just the dominant or elevated voices within that community? These voices may not necessarily be the ones that reflect and have a deep understanding of the needs and desires of the community.”
Being able to live with the community, she finds herself learning invaluable skills from experts in the field with the intent of reflecting the voices and needs of a diverse community.
“No one engineer is going to be able to figure out how to design the work for a community. You need your linguists, your sociologists, your anthropologists who also understand the context of the community.”
“Engineers have something to bring to the table, and part of what we need to be bringing to the table is to be able to collaborate with professionals from a diverse range of backgrounds.”
Get involved in humanitarian engineering
Laura Liersch, an undergraduate student pursuing a double degree in engineering and science (majoring in mechatronics and biodiversity conservation) found her calling. “Humanitarian engineering isn’t something I knew existed when I started engineering, but it feels like exactly what I wanted to do. It’s such a practical application, but it still has such a positive effect,” she says.
Laura’s advice to students is, “There are many more opportunities than you think. There are, like this trip, many different ways you can take the same degree and go in different directions and exploring that is absolutely amazing and great to do it at ANU.”
For those interested in humanitarian engineering, Jeremy suggests, “Students have several ways of getting involved with humanitarian engineering at ANU. Through our Engineering for a Humanitarian Context course, the Humanitarian Engineering minor, or final year research and development projects. Students should also look at courses across ANU that can provide further skills and knowledge to work in these contexts.”
The biggest takeaway echoed across the group wasn’t just the technical or socio-cultural knowledge but the bonds they forged with each other and the bonds built with local families and communities.
Learn about the Humanitarian Engineering Minor and Engineering for a Humanitarian Context Course
Learn more about Engineering Without Borders