Engineer to Enginee and Knightec

Engineer to Engineer put together an inspiring afternoon together with the technology company Knightec.

During the afternoon the participants got the opportunity to meet experienced recruiters who were teaching all the ins and outs of interview technique and how to tailor one’s LinkedIn profile to attract a future employer. There was also a photography-station where profile pictures were taken to use for resumé and LinkedIn profile.

Engineer to Engineer aims to facilitate the integration of recently arrived engineers and scientists. Engineer to Engineer connects progressive companies with newly arrived engineers and scientists to improve work and social integration. Engineers and scientists can network and exchange experiences with working professionals in Sweden. Read more here.

Engineers Without Borders annual meeting 2019

It’s time to look forward!

Engineers Without Borders annual meeting 2019 will be held on the 6th of April in Gothenburg. At the annual meeting, the nomination committee presents a proposal for next year's steering committee. The nomination committee this year consists of Malin Strand, Lukas Leander and Stefan Karnebäck.
Until 28 February, we welcome members' nominations. We will use these nominations in our process to form our proposal for the steering committee 2019/20.
Please send your nominations to malin.strand@ewb-swe.org and your motions to caroline.bastholm@ewb-swe.org.
Deadline for submitting motions is on the 15th of March.

Engineers Without Borders, Mavuno and NCC collaborate to improve the educational situation in Karagwe and Kyerwa in Tanzania

The level of education in the Tanzanian districts Karagwe and Kyerwa is low. Clean, safe drinking water is scarce, and most of the primary schools lack water, electricity, adequate toilets and sufficient buildings. Many children, especially girls, drop out of school.

Engineers Without Borders Sweden and the local Tanzanian organisation Mavuno collaborate to improve the educational situation in Karagwe and Kyerwa. Mavuno runs a Secondary School focusing on supporting girls. Together, Engineers Without Borders Sweden and Mavuno work to improve the basic conditions for successful school activities, such as water and sanitation, and subsequently electrification and digitalization.

We are happy to announce that we now can continue to develop Mavunos Secondary School. NCC has contributed with a Group-wide Christmas donation that will enable more classrooms, laboratories and dormitories. The educational program can thereby be extended, which means the pupils will then be eligible to apply for university studies. The donation will also allow for new water tanks that provide access to drinking water and water for cleaning, cooking and watering crops for 3,500 to 4,000 pupils and teachers in primary schools in the area.

Mavunos Secondary School

The kind of water tank that will be built

Equality from different perspectives

Engineer to Engineer (E2E) arranged an event in Uppsala that focused on equality from different perspectives. The event aimed to give an insight into how companies work with equality and to prepare the participants for the working life in Sweden. We had three presentations from equality experts. The organisation MÄN Uppsala talked about their work, followed by Anne Peters from the Equal Opportunities Group from the IT Department at Uppsala University. 

The IT consulting company Netlight talked about how they work to increase the equality in their company and society as a whole. 

The presentations were followed by an interactive case where the participants could share their ideas and experiences about equality in the workplace. 

We at the E2E team would like to thank our partners for making this event possible!

Engineer to Engineer aims to facilitate the integration of recently arrived engineers and scientists. Engineer to Engineer connects progressive companies with newly arrived engineers and scientists to improve work and social integration. Engineers and scientists can network and exchange experiences with working professionals in Sweden.

Member Meeting 2018

Come and meet your colleagues and friends!

We at Engineers Without Borders want to invite all of our members to the 2018 national member meeting! This year’s member meeting will be held in Stockholm on the 24th and 25th of November.

Date and time: November 24 12:00- November 25 12:00

Place: Hammarby allé 47, 4th floor, Stockholm  

Please register here for the meeting, and here for the dinner.
The deadline to register for the meeting is November 22 and November 17 for the dinner.

Agenda:

Saturday 24/11

12:00 - 13:00 Lunch

13:00 - 16:00 Presentations of what is going on in the organisation including Official member meeting (Agenda is found here, and changes to the statutes here) as well as a break. 

16:00 - 18:00 Discussions about the EWB vision, mission and graphical profile.

19:00 - 22:00 Dinner at Grill (to a cost of 250 kr, sign up and pay here)

Sunday 25/11

10:00 - 11:00 Common breakfast

11:00 - 12:00 Thematic group discussions (Group leaders, international project coordinators, financing group etc.). Each group will organise meetings. If you are not a part of any group but are interested in becoming active in the administration of a particular section or EWB Sweden, please e-mail info@ewb-swe.org, and we will do our best to direct you to the right people. 

Water purification system at secondary school in Tanzania

Finally, the installation of the water purification system is complete and everything is working the way it’s supposed to. That means that the pump and all filters are put in the wooden box that has been made to keep the system in place. The solar panels and the batteries are installed and all the electricity is connected to the system.

After testing the system it was time for the next round of water samples. In the beginning of the project, similar water samples were made with the water from the water tanks and they showed contamination of the water by high numbers of coliform bacteria. The new water samples were perfect and showed that no bacteria was in the water coming from the water tap after the filters, and that also meant the water was perfectly drinkable.

The next step was to have an opening ceremony at the school and celebrate that the project is finished. On this ceremony, the volunteers cut a ribbon together with the headmaster of the school before handing over the keys to the system and with that also the responsibility of the system. Clean water was handed out to teachers and students, and seeing their happiness meant all the hard work carried out both from Sweden during the previous year, and these two months in Tanzania was worth it.

To make sure that the teachers at the school would use the system properly, a book with instructions regarding everything from how to operate the system, how to fix errors and leaking as well as maintaining the filters properly, has been written and left at the school. By using these instructions we are educating a number of teachers and students that have been chosen as responsible for the purification system and they are learning very fast. That means we are hopeful that everything will work the way it is supposed to when we leave the school and go back to Sweden.

We have also finished the education and workshops with all students at the school, where we have continued to discuss the importance of clean water and good hygiene.

Wind Power for Tanzania

After 9 months of planning/working in Sweden and 2 weeks in Tanzania, the wind turbine is finally finished. There is now light in both the boys' and the girls' dormitories.

With the addition of four solar panels, we also brought power to 3 classrooms and the teachers' office. Now, the installation of computers is possible in the office and students can comfortably study even in the evening hours.

We would like to thank all of you for the support and especially, our three sponsors Sandvik, Wallenstam and Proplate.

Water purification system at secondary school in Tanzania

For the last weeks two volunteers from EWB have been working on a water purification system for a secondary school in Karagwe region in northwest Tanzania. The project has to this date made good progress and we are almost ready to start the big installation at the school with the materials we now have ready.

This means that we have solar panel and battery that will supply the system with the required electricity. We have all the pipes and fittings needed to drain the water from the tank, through the system and finally to the tap. We have with the good help of a local carpenter designed the wooden box that will fit the entire purification system and this work is now finished.

In addition to this we have also started with the workshops/education programs about water management, health risk related to water and hygiene, which is an associated part of the project. We have had one workshop together with the teachers at the school where we focused on discussions about usages of water and how risks in different contexts are avoided in the best possible way. We have also had interactive lecture with the students where we ask questions and let the students answer as well as ask their own questions. Through this course, we want to raise awareness about water issues. It also gives us volunteers a good insight into different problems you find here in Tanzania regarding water.

The weeks ahead of us involves instalment of the water purification system along with solar panels and battery. We will make sure everything works as we intended and we will also continue education with more students. There will also be a separate workshop on how to use and maintain the purification system with those responsible at the school.

Engineers on their way - Care to join

Engineers on their way-Care to join” is an exhibition with the aim to inform and inspire engineering student by showing how engineering skills are needed and used to help refugees. The exhibition has been created with the engineer in mind, presenting five different initiatives in which engineering plays a key role in helping displaced people. For each initiative, the need and the requirements in the specific case are stated, followed by the solution provided by the initiator. By acknowledging different aspects of displacement and by showing a wide spectrum of engineering being applied, the exhibition informs and hopefully inspires engineers, future engineers and others to contribute to a better world.

The exhibition was an initiative from the EWB Linköping where it has also been exhibited during the spring. The exhibition is intended to be long-lived and used elsewhere and will go on a tour to other EWB groups. During the fall, it will be shown at Uppsala University and Chalmers University and the exhibition will hopefully continue to other universities.

A new rainwater tank for Rukole Primary school in Tanzania was financed through crowdfunding (swish).

Thanks to your donations a rainwater tank is now being built at Rukole Primary School.

The tank will provide drinking water for the over 1300 students. The rainwater tank collects water during the rainy season and provides the school with drinking water during the dry season.  The donated money goes directly to the construction of the tank with local volunteers (some parents of the school children) and local workers. All work by members of Engineers Without Borders is volunteer work. 

Work as a volunteer for 9 months?
If you have the possibility to work as a volunteer for a long time it will surely be an experience you will never forget. Engineers Without Borders needs experienced engineers in many tasks. To stay abroad as a volunteer for 3-12 months is a good way to use your engineering skills to help others. One of our volunteers, Marianne Grauers is currently staying in Karagwe district in Tanzania for 9 months. There she is working with many different projects like for example providing clean water in villages and schools. If you are interested contact: marianne.grauers@ewb-swe.org

A new chairman and steering group for Engineers Without Borders Sweden

At the annual meeting in April, a partially new steering group was elected and I gained the confidence to lead this work. To our support, we have a Secretary General - Caroline Bastholm, a new role in the organisation. Many exciting challenges lie ahead such as increased support to the local groups, better internal communication and much more.  At the annual meeting surprisingly many, but good motions came in that will be undertaken in the steering group.

An essential task in the coming year is to strengthen our vision work. This together with our guiding principles will be discussed and more strongly incorporated in our work.

The summer is here and with it, we have a lot of activity in our international projects. Many are now in the field to carry out the work that was prepared for during the winter and spring. On the web page there is information about the international projects and but also our other humanitarian engineering projects such as Engineer to Engineer, Openhack, Inspire Youth and much more.

I wish you all a good summer!

Janne Byfors

Revit verification course for newly arrived building engineers

The Engineer to Engineer group in Malmö is happy to announce that we, in cooperation with Malmö University, Region Skåne and Symetri AB, will offer a Revit verification course for newly arrived building engineers.

The course will be held this fall v.33-v.40. After course completion, you will get an Autodesk Revit certification from Symetri AB and a diploma from Malmö University as a reference of your knowledge.

Apply to the course before 2018-06-30, there are limited seats.

Do you have any questions? Please send an e-mail to cadproject.e2emalmo@ewb-swe.org

More information about the course and how to apply is found in the link/attached PDF (text in Swedish):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1egt3piGtC2_tryWHv_d0PJz7ZDBln1oN/view?usp=sharing

Engineer to Engineer (E2E) is an integration project within Engineers Without Borders Sweden. We want to connect newly arrived engineers and scientists with Swedish companies within their field. E2E focus on networking and providing tools to make it easier finding a job in Sweden. 

Blogpost from Tatum Cameroon 24th of May 2018

Currently, two members from the EWB project Waccess (short for water access) are performing a field study in the village of Tatum in Cameroon. This post will describe the project as well as the first days in Cameroon.

Waccess is a continued collaboration between EWB and the Cameroonian NGO Afoni children of hope foundation (ACOHOF). So far two projects, installation of solar panels and a computer lab, have been completed together with ACOHOF on their family farm school (FFS) in the village of Tatum in Cameroon. The project Waccess aims to continue the successful collaboration with the local partner organisation, but this time focusing on the critical water situation in Tatum. For the past year, members of the Waccess project have been working on ideas to improve the water access for students and staff at the FFS as well as other members of the community in Tatum. The original plan was to understand the water situation and come up with a solution in Sweden before travelling to Tatum to implement a technical system. However, the group realised that it was not possible to understand the current water situation well enough to determine the best solution back home in Sweden. Therefore, it was decided to do a field study in order make the most out of the project and to eliminate the risk of choosing the wrong approach.
Tatum is a village located approximately 2000 meters above sea level in the northwest English-speaking region of Cameroon and to go here, you have to drive through the French region. The two regions are currently in a dispute about, to be short: equal rights. The dispute is noticeable in Cameroon since the anglophones have been demonstrating against the French government which has responded by announcing a curfew between 9 pm and 5 am and by cutting the internet access from time to time. Many schools are either closed or not fully staffed due to the protests.
When arriving in Tatum we who are representing EWB spent our first time getting to know the surroundings and the staff at ACOHOF.  During the first three days in Tatum different meetings have been held with staff at ACOHOF. We have also had the chance to visit the ACOHOF family farm school (FFS) to examine their water sources and usage.

Before the trip to Tatum, the Waccess group were quite confident that a rainwater harvesting (RWH) system at the FFS would be the best solution and a workshop with focus on RWH was prepared and ready. However, from the conversations that we have had so far and from the visit at the school, we are no longer sure that a RWH system is the best way to increase the water access in Tatum. It seems like the villagers wish to use other types of systems, like catchment areas and pipelines from natural springs, to increase the water access. Therefore, the decision of performing a field study has proven to be a good choice, but on the other hand, the development of the Waccess project might take an unexpected path. We will use the rest of our time here to identify the water-related issues concerning the school’s and villagers’ needs and desires. Hopefully, we can then, in collaboration with ACOHOF, come up with a good and suitable solution to improve access to water in Tatum.

Annual Recruitment Day

This Thursday Engineer to Engineer Uppsala held their annual Recruitment Day. The day consisted of speed dating and mingle with companies, one lecture on professional networking with UU career and one on intercultural & emotional intelligence when hunting for a job with Gwen Murray. 

We in the E2E team would like to thank the companies who attended the day; it would not have been possible without you!

Here is a list of the companies that participated: 
Mälarenergi
PlanB
Novare Potential
Ramboll
Tyréns
Knightec
Ericsson

Engineer to Engineer (E2E) is an integration project within Engineers Without Borders Sweden. We want to connect newly arrived engineers and scientists with Swedish companies within their field. E2E focus on networking and providing tools to make it easier finding a job in Sweden. Do you want to know more about us? Join our Facebook group "Engineer to Engineer Uppsala" or write us an e-mail at e2e.uppsala@ingenjorerutangranser.se

We are sad to inform you that Ivan Öfverholm, founder of Ingenjörer utan gränser, suddenly passed away on Tuesday the 6th of March at 75 years old. Ivan will be greatly missed as a father, grandfather, friend, mentor, and colleague.

Ivan founded Ingenjörer utan gränser in Gothenburg in 2007 and was our chairperson until 2015. He was a man with a big heart. The idea of Ingenjörer utan gränser was born during the tragedy of the tsunami in 2004. Ivan was the glue that held us all together during the first years, always positive, working tirelessly to bring the best out of everyone and to find new talents for the team. Under his leadership, the organisation expanded from a small group at Chalmers to a national organization with groups in many major Swedish cities.

Ivan had a rich and eventful life as an engineer and manager, starting his career in early software and mobile telecommunications. He later moved on to the space industry, where he was CEO of Saab Ericsson Space, now Ruag Space, for almost two decades. He held several other roles in the engineering community, for example as president of The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in West Sweden (IVA Väst). Ivan always had a close connection to Chalmers, with a history as treasurer for the student union.

The final years of his life he dedicated to his grandchildren and friends, making the occasional visit to Ingenjörer utan gränser such as helping set up our Engineer to Engineer activities.

We want to thank Ivan for all the love and dedication he has shown Ingenjörer utan gränser throughout the years, and the lasting impressing he has left on so many of us.

The funeral will be held in Masthuggskyrkan at 13:00 on April 6th.

Ingenjörer utan gränser

New rainwater tank for a Primary School in Tanzania

HJÄLP ÖVER 1300 ELEVER ATT FÅ DRICKSVATTEN (English below)
Swisha till 1230737908
Under torrperioderna har Rukole Primary School i Tanzania inget vatten alls. Deras nuvarande trasiga regnvattentankar rymmer inte den mängd vatten som behövs för mer än 1300 elever. Dagligen är ca 400 elever sjuka och under 2018 har 3 elever gått bort. Tre personer från Ingenjörer utan gränser är på plats och jobbar på skolan dagligen. En ny fungerande vattentank skulle göra det möjligt för fler elever att fortsätta gå i skolan.

50 kr motsvarar en kostnad för att förse en elev med rent vatten varje dag under hela sin skolgång.

Varför skänka pengar till projekt:
- pengarna går direkt till byggnationen, inga mellanhänder
- Du stödjer lokal arbetskraft
- Ingenjörer utan gränser är på plats hela tiden och kommer dokumentera och se till att byggnationen går som planerat

Alla summor tas tacksamt emot. Du gör skillnad!
Swish: 1230737908

New rainwater tank for a Primary school in Tanzania

HELP OVER 1300 STUDENTS TO GET DRINKING WATER
During the dry season, Rukole Primary School in Tanzania does not have any water at all. Their existing rainwater tanks are broken and too small to provide the over 1300 students with drinking water. Every day around 400 students are sick, and three students have passed away during 2018. Three volunteers from Engineers Without Borders Sweden are currently working at the school daily. A new water tank would enable more students to go to school.

50 SEK would pay for one student's clean drinking water use for his or her whole school period.

Why you should support this specific project: 
- the money goes directly to the construction of the tank (all work is voluntary) 
- You support local workforce
- Engineers Without Borders Sweden will be here to document and ensure that everything goes as planned

Every donation is appreciated. You can make a difference!
Swish: 1230737908

OpenHack, Luleå 2018

WHEN: Fri, Mar 9, 2018, 5:00 PM - Sun, Mar 11, 2018, 5:00 PM
WHERE: Kungsgatan 21, 972 31 Luleå, Luleå Norrbottens län, 972 31 Sweden (map)

In the very beginning of 2018, we will host a hackathon in Luleå. Stay tuned for more updates. 

Notify me when the application opens.

Or follow us on Facebook, where we post all new updates!

 

Bengt Dahlgren förlänger samarbetet med Ingenjörer utan gränser

Lars Kjellgren-VD Bengt Dahlgren Stockholm AB, Stina Efraimsson-Marknadskoordinator Bengt Dahlgren samt Amanda Lindén Guiñez och Jan Byfors från Ingenjörer utan gränser.

Bengt Dahlgren förlänger nu samarbetet med Ingenjörer utan gränser. Bengt Dahlgrens stödjer och samverkar med Ingenjörer utan gränser dels i form av ekonomiskt bidrag och dels genom att medarbetare deltar praktiskt i olika volontärprojekt. Bengt Dahlgren går nu in med 500,000 över tre år samtidigt som det aktiva deltagandet i projekt fortsätter.

- ”Genom ett fortsatt samarbete vill vi skapa större förutsättningar för föreningen att utöva sin verksamhet. Vi vill också göra det möjligt för våra medarbetare att delta i volontärprojekt och på så vis bidra med vår tekniska kompetens.” säger Agneta Lundén Hjält, Personalchef på Bengt Dahlgren.

Sedan avtalet tecknades 2015 har Bengt Dahlgren ingått i flera spännande projekt. Bland annat i byn Chonyonyo, i Karagwe väster om Victoriasjön i Tanazania där Bengt Dahlgren deltar i det pågående arbetet med att förse invånarna i byn med renare vatten.

- ”Att vi nu fortsätter vårt samarbete med Bengt Dahlgren ytterligare 3 år som guldpartner till Ingenjörer utan gränser är mycket glädjande. I vårt samarbete hittills har Ingenjörer utan gränser fått tillgång till Bengt Dahlgrens högkvalificerade personal bland annat i vattenrelaterade projekt i Tanzania. Vidare har samarbetet stärkt Ingenjörer utan gränsers interna struktur vilket gjort det möjligt för oss att anta än fler och mer komplicerade uppgifter. Det har varit mycket värdefullt för oss och vi ser fram emot ett lika bra och fruktsamt samarbete de kommande tre åren.” säger Caroline Bastholm, ordförande Ingenjörer utan gränser

Bengt Dahlgren satsar mot att vara ett hållbart företag och samarbetet med Ingenjörer utan gränser ligger helt i linje med denna satsning. Social hållbarhet är en viktig aspekt och det finns en gemensam strävan mot ett samhälle där alla människor lever ett bra liv med god hälsa, utan orättvisa skillnader.

Fakta Bengt Dahlgren
Bengt Dahlgren är ett av Sveriges ledande teknikkonsultföretag inom VVS, Energi & Miljö, Styr & Övervakning, Brand & Risk samt Teknisk Förvaltning.

OpenHack Gothenburg

OpenHack will be hosting a hackathon in Gothenburg the 6th of October!

Go to openhack.io for more information and to sign up. The event is free!

Sandvik AB has initiated a long-term collaboration with Engineers Without Borders Sweden

Johan Kerstell, Executive Vice President and Head of Human Resources, Sandvik Group, Jessica Alm, Executive Vice President and Head of Group Communications, Sandvik Group, Jan Byfors, Acting Chariman, Engineers Without Borders Sweden, and Albin Thureson, Member of the Board, Engineers Without Borders Sweden

Sandvik AB has initiated a long-term collaboration with Engineers Without Borders, Sweden, with the intention of contributing technical know-how, project management and international experience to the organization’s voluntary activities in Sweden and in developing countries.