Tuesday 7 June 2022
The national finals of the 'Where There Is No Engineer' design competition took place in the Museum Building in Trinity College Dublin on Saturday, June 4, 2022.
'Where There Is No Engineer' (WTINE) is coordinated by Engineers without Borders Ireland and the Development Technology in the Community (DTC) Research Group in TU Dublin.
Sustainable and cross-cultural development projects
Now in its eighth year, this development education initiative provides participants with the opportunity to learn about design, teamwork and communication through real, inspiring, sustainable and cross-cultural development projects.
By participating in the programme, students and professionals had the opportunity to design creative solutions to real life development challenges. The competition is jointly funded by Irish Aid at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Bentley Systems and the Arup Trust.
Architecture, product design and engineering students from universities in Dublin, Cork, Carlow, Waterford, Galway and Belfast have taken part in the WTINE competition this year.
Students had the opportunity to design a development solution for either the location of Kabwe, Zambia, or Kameswaram, Tamil Nadu, India, in collaboration with EWB Ireland’s development partners Zamda Ireland and Friend In Need India Trust (FIN).
The collaboration with FIN focused on improving the design and user experience of ecosan toilets and the development of a Green Academy incorporating circular economy principles for architecture students.
Participants were encouraged to develop designs and schemes to improve community resilience under six core development themes; self-supply water and sanitation; food security; community participatory health; on- and off-grid energy systems; climate resilient infrastructure and communications.
In the 2021-2022 academic year, more than 600 students from nine universities participated in the WTINE programme. A total of 13 projects were chosen to participate in the national finals, with the creation of a new category for first year students.
Students from TCD, TU Dublin, NCAD, NUIG, SETU (formerly Waterford IT) and MTU all took part on June 4, with students joining remotely and in person.
Eco and sustainable solar stoves
Students have designed creative solutions ranging from eco and sustainable solar stoves, to micro greens as a means to increase food security, to novel and improved design of ecosan toilets amongst other innovations.
The event was opened by EWB Ireland, the head of the civil, structural and environmental engineering department, Brian Caulfield, and Bentley vice-president Aravinda Billavara.
Teams and student finalists will present their innovations and schemes to a panel of judges drawn from Engineers without Borders Ireland, Irish Aid’s Development Education Unit and EWB partners 80:20 Educating and Acting for a Better World and Friend In Need India Trust. Lecturers, fellow students and members of the public will also attend the event on the day.
The 2023 edition of 'Where There Is No Engineer' (WTINE23) will be launching in September 2022. For further information please contact: emma.brown@ewb-ireland.org.