Engineers Without Borders

Engineers Without Borders' University of Adelaide chapter runs humanitarian engineering workshops to engage students in real-world problem solving and promote careers in STEM.

These workshops cover a variety of topics such as water engineering, sustainable housing and renewable energy, all based on Engineers Without Borders programs in Australia and abroad. Workshops are conducted by current University Of Adelaide STEM students and can be tailored for most year levels.

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  • Floating houses

    Capacity: 30
    Duration: 60 minutes
    Location: North Terrace Campus
    Year levels: All


    The workshop explores the importance of developing appropriate housing solutions. Strong emphasis is placed on the development of ideas and the goal of engineering an effective, low-cost solution.

    Students work together in teams to build a “floating” house capable of holding large

    amounts of weight above a surface of water. Each team is assigned a budget which they can utilise to purchase different materials to strengthen their design. The winning team will be able to hold the greatest weight before submerging.

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  • Water pipelines

    Capacity: 30
    Duration: 60 minutes
    Location: North Terrace Campus
    Year levels: All


    This workshop has students work together to plan and build a water supply system, based on a real-world project conducted by Engineers Without Borders in Indonesia. 

    Students will need to communicate and work as a team to ensure their water pipeline is fit for purpose, and think about the challenges and opportunities presented to engineers working on such projects in the field.

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  • Renewable energy

    Capacity: 30
    Duration: 60 minutes
    Location: North Terrace Campus
    Year levels: All


    The workshop explores the concepts of renewability and sustainability in the context of power generation.

    Students get the chance to build prototype wind turbines from classroom materials and these are tested by seeing which blade design could spin the fastest to create the most electrical energy.

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