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Western Australia has dominated the Engineers Without Borders 2008 Challenge, with first-year engineering students from The University of Western Australia taking first and second place.

The winning team designed an effective low-cost water filter while the runner-up built an environmentally friendly washing machine. Both projects are designed to be used by rural communities in Cambodia.

The 2008 Challenge winners were announced last week, as part of the Engineers Without Borders third annual conference in Melbourne.

The Engineers Without Borders Australia Challenge is a national design program for first-year university students. Students work in teams to develop conceptual designs for sustainable development that contribute towards real international development projects.

Professor Frank Bullen, the representative for The Australian Council of Engineering Deans on the judging panel, said the Challenge was one of the few events across Australia that acted as a benchmarking exercise between universities.

"The competition result is therefore a great endorsement of the quality of the engineering program at The University of Western Australia," Professor Bullen said.

The 2008 Challenge focused on a range of projects contributing towards the sustainable development of rural communities in Kandal Province, Cambodia. According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 69 per cent of the Cambodia population does not have access to safe drinking water and 72 per cent do not have access to adequate sanitation.

Dr Brad Stappenbelt, from UWA's School of Mechanical Engineering, said the student projects, ‘Water Purification in Cambodia' and the ‘Cambodian Washing Machine', were good examples of Engineers without Borders' motto of "engineering a better world".

Dr Stappenbelt, coordinator of UWA's introduction to professional engineering unit, which incorporates the challenge, said his students were thrilled to have taken the top two places.

"It's the first time teams from UWA have entered this challenge so to make the finals was exciting but to actually win first and second place is fantastic," he said.

UWA's winning team will travel to a developing country to see an Engineers Without Borders project in operation.

Media references

Dr Brad Stappenbelt (Unit Coordinator, School of Mechanical Engineering) (+61 8) 6488 7201
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs) (+61 8) 6488 5563 / (+61 4) 32 637 716