Two student teams from the University of ۲ݮƵ's Global Engineering Challenge (GEC) programme represented the faculty at the , organised by Engineering Without Borders UK & Ireland last month.
Hosted at ۲ݮƵ Hallam University, this highly regarded annual challenge involved over 13,000 students from universities across the UK and Ireland, pushing them to develop engineering solutions with a positive social, environmental, and economic impact. This year, two ۲ݮƵ student teams, WADR (Water Access Distribution Restoration) and Eco-San, focused their creativity on real-world challenges in , Johannesburg, with themes including clean water access and ecological sanitation.
WADR took home the prestigious People’s Prize, for developing an economical and accessible clean water system for the Maker's Valley population. Standing out among 36 finalist teams from 26 universities, this is a fantastic achievement and powerful endorsement of the university’s GEC programme’s emphasis on sustainability, inclusivity, and global responsibility.
Samantha Cheetham, Eco-San team member and Biomedical Engineering student, said: “Participating in both the Global Engineering Challenge week and the Engineers Without Borders 'Engineering for People Design Challenge' was a great opportunity to develop key soft skills and learn about what is required to make a solution that is sustainable, inclusive and affordable, while still responding to key criteria. I'm really proud of what my teammates and I have achieved and hope to use the skills I've gained in future projects.”
Now in its 14th year, GEC brings together all first-year engineering students from across the Faculty to collaborate in multidisciplinary teams, tackling meaningful design challenges with an emphasis on ethics, inclusivity, and sustainability. Over the years, it has engaged more than 15,000 students, with invaluable guidance from 500+ industry mentors and 500+ academic staff mentors.
