Transport and Road Safety in LMICs
Road trauma is often thought of as a developed country's issue however, 90% of all road traffic fatalities and injuries occur in developing countries. From a macro perspective, road trauma reduces 1% to 6% of a developing country's GDP which equates to US$100bn per year.
As fatal and serious motor vehicle crashes can slow a country's development, my interests is also in capacity building in and knowledge transfer to low- and middle-income countries.
As fatal and serious motor vehicle crashes can slow a country's development, my interests is also in capacity building in and knowledge transfer to low- and middle-income countries.
Engineers Without Borders
Engineers Without Border Australia - Floating Latrine System
After completing my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, I noticed that there were very few areas in which working engineers can contribute their skills to development work. This was the impetus for the founding of Engineers Without Borders New South Wales. The first project this chapter engaged in was based on Tonle Sap (i.e. Tonle Lake) in Cambodia. |
Tonle Sap is the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia and has been designated as an ecological hot spot by UNESCO in 1997. Tonle Sap is unique for two reasons. Firstly, the water flow changes direction twice a year and, due to this change, the lake's surface area also varies from 2,700 square km to 16,000 square km. Secondly, the lake is home to 1.2 million Cambodians and its fishes supplies one-third of Cambodia's annual protein intake.
One of the main problems the lake and its inhabitants face is water pollution generated from human waste. As the inhabitants live in either stilted houses or floating houses on the lake, a traditional sewer system with fixed piping cannot be installed. As such, human waste is deposited directly into the lake. This lake also supplies drinking, cooking and cleaning water for the lake's inhabitants.
During the 18 months as the manager of this project, I worked closely with our Cambodian partner organisation, Live and Learn, and a team of engineers in Sydney to create the floating latrine concept; conduct feasibility studies in determining sizes of systems, materials required and identifying material suppliers; and turned the concept into reality through the initiation of a pilot study.
The project has gained, under successive leadership, much success over the years and is now in the final stages of being implemented in several floating villages. Feedback from the inhabitants of the villages will allows Engineers Without Border to continue to refine the system.
For more information, please visit - www.ewb.org.au
Engineers Without Borders - UNSW
While completing my undergraduate degree, I noticed that fellow student engineers had little opportunities to implement their newly acquired knowledge and skills to assist disadvantaged communities in improving their quality of life through obtaining basic self identified needs such as access to clean water, housing and electricity. Having identified this opportunity, I founded a chapter of Engineers Without Borders Australia at UNSW which was grounded in my firm belief that engineers can contribute to building a better world.
Over 100 students and staff of UNSW had joined the chapter within the first twelve months of operation. During that time several talks were delivered and discussions were held on the topics of development engineering and sustainability. Funds were also raised to allow the chapter to establish its very first project aimed at electrifying a rural community's school in Indonesia.
The Chapter has recently entered its tenth year of operation and continues to inspire future engineers to develop a better and fairer world.
For more information, please visit - www.ewb.org.au
One of the main problems the lake and its inhabitants face is water pollution generated from human waste. As the inhabitants live in either stilted houses or floating houses on the lake, a traditional sewer system with fixed piping cannot be installed. As such, human waste is deposited directly into the lake. This lake also supplies drinking, cooking and cleaning water for the lake's inhabitants.
During the 18 months as the manager of this project, I worked closely with our Cambodian partner organisation, Live and Learn, and a team of engineers in Sydney to create the floating latrine concept; conduct feasibility studies in determining sizes of systems, materials required and identifying material suppliers; and turned the concept into reality through the initiation of a pilot study.
The project has gained, under successive leadership, much success over the years and is now in the final stages of being implemented in several floating villages. Feedback from the inhabitants of the villages will allows Engineers Without Border to continue to refine the system.
For more information, please visit - www.ewb.org.au
Engineers Without Borders - UNSW
While completing my undergraduate degree, I noticed that fellow student engineers had little opportunities to implement their newly acquired knowledge and skills to assist disadvantaged communities in improving their quality of life through obtaining basic self identified needs such as access to clean water, housing and electricity. Having identified this opportunity, I founded a chapter of Engineers Without Borders Australia at UNSW which was grounded in my firm belief that engineers can contribute to building a better world.
Over 100 students and staff of UNSW had joined the chapter within the first twelve months of operation. During that time several talks were delivered and discussions were held on the topics of development engineering and sustainability. Funds were also raised to allow the chapter to establish its very first project aimed at electrifying a rural community's school in Indonesia.
The Chapter has recently entered its tenth year of operation and continues to inspire future engineers to develop a better and fairer world.
For more information, please visit - www.ewb.org.au