AUT students take part in Engineers Without Borders competition
A storm water management system and wind turbines are AUT Engineering students answer for a struggling village in Cameroon.
Two projects involving nine students made it through to the national ‘Engineers Without Borders’ contest on the 10th of October.
The first-year students worked on the ideas as part of their semester one project for their Introduction to Engineering Design paper.
Dr David White, who heads the paper, says the aim of the project and the paper is to show students the importance of engineering in society and the ethical and social obligations they have.
The first group of students focused on a storm water management system that involved planting bamboo in drains, to divert groundwater from entering the town. It would therefore stop flooding, and the flow on affects including mudslides and erosion.
The second group of students created turbines using locally sourced products. They also decided it should be run as a co-op.
Dr White and Senior Lecturer Chris Whittington and Marcel Schaefer helped the students plan and prepare their projects.
19 year old Mechanical Engineering student Amelia Bassett-Burr said it was a great experience. “I’m glad to have done it, and got so far. The best bit was making it to nationals and meeting other engineers from around the country.”
Dr White says the AUT students’ projects and presentations were superb. “They were so slick, so good, and they’d done so much research. I am so proud of them. They won just by getting through to the nationals in my opinion."
In the end, Massey University students won the competition for suggesting a project involving soap.