Engineers Without Borders Australia

Engineers Without Borders Australia Together, we can engineer a world where technology benefits all. Join our community of socio-technical professionals and changemakers.

https://linktr.ee/ewb_australia Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB) is a for-purpose organisation with a national office and staff team located in Melbourne, in-country offices in Vanuatu, Timor-Leste and Cambodia, and 20+ Chapters located across Australia. Established in Australia in 2003, EWB works across three major focus areas:
1. Engineering: Developing technology to alleviate poverty

and accelerate inclusive sustainable development in Australia and overseas;
2. Education: Redefining engineering as a profession providing stewardship and leadership for a more equitable and sustainable world and;
3. Influence: Inspiring and mobilising a global community who believe in a world where technology benefits all. At EWB, we strongly believe that every engineer can be a change agent for a socially just and sustainable world. This belief drives EWB to lead a movement of like-minded individuals and companies working together to ensure technology is developed to make the world a better place for all. To support our work, visit ewb.org.au/donate

One team, many fields. This is the first edition of Field Notes: a new monthly series pulling back the curtain on the wo...
18/06/2026

One team, many fields.

This is the first edition of Field Notes: a new monthly series pulling back the curtain on the work our teams are doing across the region. This month: climate resilience in Cambodia, water and sanitation in Vanuatu, and renewable energy in Timor-Leste. Three countries, three very different challenges, one team showing up for their communities.

To our teams: thank you for everything you put into this.
To our supporters: none of it happens without you.

Swipe through, and follow along. We'll be back next month with more from the field.

She graduated with an engineering degree. But like many women in Timor-Leste, the hardest part wasn’t studying. It was g...
18/06/2026

She graduated with an engineering degree.
But like many women in Timor-Leste, the hardest part wasn’t studying. It was getting the opportunity. For too long, talented women engineers have faced barriers to practical experience, industry connections and employment pathways.

Feto to the Front changed that. Six months after the program ended, 75% of participants are now employed in engineering roles.Not observing. Not shadowing. Leading.
They’re designing rural water systems. Reviewing maritime construction drawings.
Managing project documentation. Leading consultations with communities.

And helping deliver infrastructure that improves lives. The impact isn’t just measured in jobs. It’s measured in confidence. In visibility. In women proving every day that engineering leadership has no gender.

Because when women are given the opportunity to lead, they don’t just change their own future. They help build a stronger future for everyone.
75% employed in engineering roles.

Women leading infrastructure delivery. Communities benefiting from more inclusive solutions
When women move to the front of engineering, entire communities move forward with them.

More than just a loo. See our Toilets on the field... A toilet doesn't sound like much. For half the homes in Vanuatu, ...
16/06/2026

More than just a loo. See our Toilets on the field...

A toilet doesn't sound like much. For half the homes in Vanuatu, not having one changes everything.

Dirty water. Sick kids. Missed school days.� For 1 in 3 rural families, that's still life today. But here's the good news. A safe toilet isn't fancy.� A village can build one together.�

And when locals learn to care for it, it lasts. One toilet keeps a family well.�Well kids go to school. School kids get a future. Now picture the whole village.� Home by home. Family by family. Small thing. Big change.

This is what your kindness builds.� Not just a loo. A healthy home. A school day. A future that stays. Thank you for standing with them.

11/06/2026

Ready to look under the hood of a high-impact, multi-country humanitarian engineering initiative? Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Australia is seeking an experienced independent M&E professional to conduct an evaluation of the past three years of our international development program. For full details of this consultancy opportunity, please refer to the complete Terms of Reference: https://ewb.box.com/s/o8gf1by3516cx0mddwybjbsosl32ibu1

Application Deadline: Before 5:00 PM AEST on 30 June 2026.

Know someone in the M&E or international development space who would be perfect for this? Tag them in the comments below!

Review the future.Every year, uni students take on a real problem from a real community, and design a way to help. It's ...
04/06/2026

Review the future.
Every year, uni students take on a real problem from a real community, and design a way to help. It's their first taste of engineering that starts with people.

But good ideas need good feedback. That's where you come in. We're looking for industry reviewers. You read a student's design report. You tell them what works. You tell them how to make it better.

It takes a few hours, across two weeks in June and July. It counts towards your professional development hours, and we give you everything you need to do it well. A few hours of your time. A real difference to a student.

Register by Friday 5 June: https://engineerswithoutborders.formstack.com/forms/reviewer_eoi

How do you give a whole community its water back?By designing a toilet. There's water a whole community lives from. They...
28/05/2026

How do you give a whole community its water back?
By designing a toilet.

There's water a whole community lives from. They fish it. They swim in it. They grow up beside it. It’s their Home. Then suddenly it got sick. And when the water got sick, the people did too.

The cause? Not a factory. Not pollution from far away. It was simpler than that. With no safe toilet, where does it all go? Into the ground. And the ground holds the water. The same water people fish in. The same water they drink. The water that fed them was quietly making them sick.

So just build a toilet, right?
Not so fast. The ground floods. Dig half a metre down and you hit water. Turns out no ordinary loo will cut it here. So we don't design for people. We design with them. Elders. Parents. Kids. People living with disability. Whoever uses it every day. Built for their floods, their bodies, their lives. And the water? It comes back. Clean enough to fish. Clean enough to swim. That's the ripple.

So look again. It was never just a toilet. It's clean water. It's a day's catch. It's a kid who stays well. It's a whole life, held up by one quiet thing built right. Everyone deserves that. Every single person.

A little curiosity. A real change. Something that lasts.
Follow along. We're sharing the listening, the designs, the first builds as they happen.

This National Volunteer Week (18–24 May), the theme is Your Year to Volunteer: A massive thank you to the people alread...
18/05/2026

This National Volunteer Week (18–24 May), the theme is Your Year to Volunteer: A massive thank you to the people already giving their time, and an open invitation to anyone thinking about it. Volunteers are how communities get built.

Meg Cummins, Cambodia: Meg designed a solar-powered water treatment plant for Koh Tnout Island from her desk at Aurecon. Years later, she flew to Cambodia and handed it over to the community herself. "It felt like everything had come full circle."
https://ewb.org.au/blog/2025/05/12/coming-full-circle-volunteer-meg-cummins-returns-to-the-project-that-started-it-all/

Jack Bygott, Timor-Leste: Jack left his Brisbane engineering job for a year of building water systems with the local team in Dili. He still mentors them remotely today.
"The localisation of knowledge is so much better than just going in and doing things yourself." https://ewb.org.au/blog/2024/08/20/falling-into-fulfilment-how-jacks-volunteering-is-engineering-change-in-timor-leste/

Nicole Locke, Cambodia: Nicole swapped her Perth water utility role for a year of field visits, tuk-tuk commutes, and problem-solving from scratch in Phnom Penh.
"I went to try and provide value, but I feel that maybe I got more out of it."
https://ewb.org.au/blog/2024/01/29/remote-field-visits-tuk-tuk-commutes-and-fish-amok-a-year-in-the-life-of-an-australian-volunteer/

Sadia Abdullah, Vanuatu: A Sydney civil engineer, Sadia knew almost nothing about Vanuatu when she boarded the flight to Port Vila. She spent the next year working with the Department of Water Resources, helping rural communities get clean water.
https://ewb.org.au/blog/2024/04/09/volunteer-adventures-in-vanuatu-sadias-life-changing-year-abroad/

Four countries. Four roles. One shared truth: communities are built. And rebuilt by people who choose to show up. To Meg, Jack, Nicole, Sadia and every volunteer who has shared their time, skill and curiosity with us — Thank you. Every contribution matters.

We told you David's story last time. There's more to it. You might remember him: The boy who grew up by the lagoon in Va...
13/05/2026

We told you David's story last time. There's more to it. You might remember him: The boy who grew up by the lagoon in Vanuatu. The one whose lagoon got sick. We told you about the toilet. The one that stood through two cyclones. We told you about the lagoon David loves. But we didn't tell you what came before. David came to us: He didn't ask for a building. He asked to be heard. So that's where it started. Not with a plan. Not with drawings. Not with a single tool. With a conversation.

For two whole years, our team listened. They sat with the community. They worked with the health officials. Most of all, they asked the man who uses a wheelchair. They asked what HE needed. So the door would be wide enough. So the path would be smooth. So nobody in the village would be left out. That part took two years.

Most help that arrives in a village can do one of two things: Fix the urgent thing, a flood, a storm, a sick lagoon. Or build the long-term thing: something that lasts. Long after the helpers go home. Almost never both. David's village needed both. So, that's what they made together. A toilet that stood above the floodwater. And a village that knew how to keep building.

The dream continues: Now David's village has a new dream. A smaller toilet. Small enough for a single family. Small enough for every house, on every road, in every village. One village at a time. One family at a time. Imagine that! Thank you for staying with David. And his village. And the lagoon they love.

Thank you. This is the way we build. Slowly.
Together. With the people often forgotten. Thank you for trusting the quiet years. Thank you for backing the questions before the answers.

Image description: A group of community members in Vanuatu stand around a tall wooden toilet built on stilts with a corrugated metal roof. A green wheelie bin sits at its base. One man on the right gestures toward the structure as the others watch and listen. Banana trees fill the background.


Engineers Without Borders Australia is looking for an expert Australian Volunteer to join our team in Timor-Leste as Fie...
12/05/2026

Engineers Without Borders Australia is looking for an expert Australian Volunteer to join our team in Timor-Leste as Field Technician for Sustainable Systems!

You will test solar-powered coffee wet mills built from repurposed Australian panels, developing equipment using recycled and sustainable materials for other parts of the coffee processing pipeline, and helping nurseries get high-yield seedlings established. If you believe that engineering should be a tool for social justice and sustainability, this is your chance to lead at the grassroots level.

Base: Dili, Timor-Leste (with travel to project sites).
Duration: 12 months in-person
Support: Through our partnership with the Australian Volunteers Program (AVP), you will
receive flights, insurance, and living/accommodation allowances.
Apply Now

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so don't wait!
Closing Date: 31 May 2026
Apply here: https://ewb.org.au/volunteer/
Full position description here: https://ewb.app.box.com/file/2213002271212?s=x9g1duyxhlqsukaxl2lp7fh5ajsxtrux

Questions? Email [email protected]
Help us redefine engineering as a profession of stewardship for a more equitable world.

Meet David. He grew up by a lagoon in Vanuatu.As a little boy, he swam in those waters. He fished with his family. He wa...
06/05/2026

Meet David. He grew up by a lagoon in Vanuatu.
As a little boy, he swam in those waters. He fished with his family. He watched the mangroves sway in the wind. The lagoon was his childhood. His joy. His home.
Then the storms came.

Bigger storms. Heavier rains. Floods that wouldn't stop.
And one day, David looked at the lagoon and it was sick. The mangroves were gone. The fish were gone. The children who used to swim there, couldn't anymore. His village had no toilet. So when the floods came, everything washed into the water. The place he loved most became unsafe for the people he loved most.
David could have walked away.

He didn't. He spoke up. And for two long years, he sat in meetings, drew up plans, and dreamed alongside his neighbours. Then they built it. One safe toilet. For approximately 200 people. Tall enough to stand above the floodwater. Wide enough for a wheelchair. With rainwater for washing little hands. A few months later, two cyclones smashed into the island. Houses fell. Trees fell. The toilet stood.

And now David has a bigger dream. He wants every family in Vanuatu to have one.Every. Single. Family. This is what your kindness builds. Not just a toilet. A future. A childhood. A lagoon that can be loved again. Thank you for standing with David.

Address

552 Victoria Street
North Melbourne, VIC
3051

Telephone

+61385821866

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Engineers Without Borders Australia posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Engineers Without Borders Australia:

Shortcuts

Share

Category