The Rise of Humanitarian Engineering Education in Australasia

Abstract

Context: Since the early 1980's, numerous organisations seeking to utilise engineering to address humanitarian and development challenges have been established including Engineering for Change, Engineers Against Poverty, Engineers for Overseas Development and national Engineers Without Borders and RedRs. This has contributed to the growth of humanitarian engineering education programs and initiatives in countries including the USA, UK and Canada from the early 2000's. Similarly, humanitarian engineering education courses and initiatives have been established in Australian and New Zealand. Purpose: This paper details the growth of humanitarian engineering education programs and initiatives in Australasia since 2006 leading to the current state of the field. From this opportunities for further growth and development will be identified. Approach: Student and university participation data drawn from national programs as well as details of current and planned university offerings is used to identify the growth in humanitarian engineering education in Australia and New Zealand. Outcomes from a collaborative cross-institutional workshop are used to identify priorities and opportunities for growth and development. Results: Although isolated initiatives have been delivered under a variety of terms, the current growth of humanitarian engineering education dates back to the launch of the EWB Challenge in 2007. Since 2015 there has been a dramatic increase in the scale of offerings and engagement with the establishment of the EWB Humanitarian Design Summits and introduction of Australian Federal Government support for mobility programs. This has led to the development of elective courses in the area and formal award programs emerging from 2016, with at least five Australasian universities offering or planning award programs. Broader impact is demonstrated by student demographic data which clearly indicates a significantly higher percentage of female engagement in the area than typical for engineering. Conclusions: Opportunities exist to continue to expand the field and its impact including educational research and development, engagement with professional bodies, and advocacy. This will contribute to leadership and the potential for humanitarian engineering to achieve positive impacts for communities and individuals in Australasia and internationally.

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