WSP förlänger partnerskapet med Ingenjörer utan gränser

WSP och Ingenjörer utan gränser har samarbetat under ett flertal år. Nu förlänger WSP avtalet ytterligare med minst två år. WSP kommer att stödja Ingenjörer utan gränser såväl finansiellt som med kompetens.

"Vi är väldigt glada att WSP vill fortsätta som partner. Den stora kompetens som WSPs personal besitter kan komma till stort nytta för oss framför allt i våra internationella projekt. Här är det fråga om lösningar för att skapa bra vatten och sanitetsförhållanden och enkla men hållbara energilösningar", säger Caroline Bastholm, generalsekreterare för Ingenjörer utan gränser.

Utöver samverkan kring och bidrag till internationella projekt kommer partnerskapet även att omfatta gemensamma seminarier och arbete med att hjälpa nyanlända till Sverige att hitta jobb, ett arbete som går under rubriken Engineer to Engineer.

"Vi tar ansvar för framtiden genom att bidra med vår kunskap. Ingenjörer utan gränser ger oss en plattform som passar oss bra för att kunna göra just det. Vi är glada och stolta att fortsatt bidra i deras viktiga arbete världen över", säger Sofia Nyholm, som ansvarar för WSPs samhällsengagemang.

Kontakterpersoner för denna information är:
Jan Byfors, Ordförande Ingenjörer utan gränser jan.byfors@ewb-swe.org

Officially open: The new kitchen building in Wulugu!

Teachers, workers and children at Wulugu Senior High School will be able to prepare energy-efficient food without inhaling dangerous smoke.

This project was made possible with the help of volunteers from Wulugu, Engineers Without Borders fieldworkers and donations. Thank you!

Read more about the project here

Opening ceremony

The kitchen building

Join Openhack in Stockholm 1 - 3 of November

Do you enjoy coding and have an interest in humanitarian issues? Have you heard about openhack before? Openhack is an organization founded by EWB, and we would like to invite you all to this year's hackathon. For 48 hours, people from all over Sweden gather in Stockholm, with the main goal to solve challenges society faces. Press the link below to read more!

https://sthlm.openhack.io/?fbclid=IwAR0seG7dXakug8dX1lZcYb-b6wri32reEulTs3jfbgSZCPFaNzEfWCmfkO4

Engineers Without Borders' local partner MAVUNO celebrates its 25th anniversary.

More than 1,200 people attended the celebration, including the Minister of Industry from Dar es Salam. From Engineers Without Borders, the volunteers working in the area attended and representatives from two of our member companies Sandvik and Bengt Dahlgren. In the past year, about 10,000 people, in villages and schools, have gained access to water thanks to the companies that support Engineers Without Borders work.

Engineers Without Borders Sweden has a long record of working with MAVUNO in Karagwe in Tanzania. MAVUNO is an NGO working to “capacitate and empower rural communities in Karagwe and Kyerwa districts on sustainable development without any kind of prejudice”.

Read more about Mavuno Project here

The work in Tanzania is progressing

Our volunteers have held lectures about water and hygiene, where the children liked to see ice.

They have also tested water samples for Coliform and Enterococcus bacteria, indicating the water’s sanitary quality.

The construction has started with changes to the outlet from the school’s water tank, and the installation of underground pipes into the school.

Follow our Instagram page where more pictures are available: www.instagram.com/ewb_sweden

Read more about the project here

A new home for the smash-proof guitar

Over 30 million saw Yngwie Malmsteen do his utmost to smash Sandvik's unbreakable guitar. Now the guitar has been auctioned out which brought in USD 25,000. Sandvik donates the money to the organization Engineers Without Borders, that will use them for school projects in Tanzania.

The unbreakable guitar was at the center of the latest film in the Sandvik brand campaign Let’s Create. Now it has got a new owner, venture capitalist Pär-Jörgen Pärson who has also written the management book "Heavy Metal Management".

“It was impossible to resist such a crazy project as this, which included the world's best guitarist and a Swedish industrial company. I loved it and the opportunity to buy the guitar was too cool to miss”, he says.

Pär-Jörgen Pärson has a genuine interest in guitars. He started playing himself in his early teens, has been involved in several bands and owns a comprehensive guitar collection.

"This guitar doesn't really fit into my collection because they have to be from 1963, my birth year, but since Yngwie was born in 1963 I still think it fits nicely.”

Engineers Without Borders Sweden (EWB) will use the donated money in their school projects in northwestern Tanzania. EWB, together with a local partner, runs a project covering 100 schools, each with 700‒1,000 students. The first step involves access to water and sanitation while step two is about digitizing the learning environment.

“The schools are remotely located in rural Tanzania with no access to books. Computers and internet access provide access to knowledge via the Internet and the donation makes it possible for us to improve the education at these schools,” says Caroline Bastholm, Secretary General of EWB Sweden.

Jessica Alm, Communications Director at Sandvik, had the pleasure to hand over a USD 25,000 dollar check to Caroline Bastholm, Secretary Generary for Engineers Without Borders Sweden. Pär-Jörgen Pärson was happy the money goes to a good cause.

Engineers Without Borders announce a new graphical identity created by ALTEN Sweden

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) are strengthening their identity by an update of the visual profile. ALTEN Sweden is the company behind the development of the new identity, which is gradually being implemented starting May 28, 2019.

The initiative has aimed to strengthen EWB's identity and the symbolism of the organization's values. Through colours and shapes, the new visual identity aims at creating a connection to sustainability and engineering. The concept, which is developed by ALTEN, includes a new logo, typography and graphical guidelines.

- We identified a need within the organization to update the visual identity. The members' opinion was that the current identity was somewhat challenging to work with, especially in international contexts. We are delighted to have had support by ALTEN, who contributed with their professionalism and competence to ensure we successfully reached our goals throughout the process, says Caroline Bastholm, Secretary General at Engineers Without Borders Sweden.

- It is a great honour to be part of the update of the new visual identity for one of our most essential engineering organizations in Sweden. It is important for us to support projects like these, and we are looking forward to upcoming collaborations with EWB, says CEO Martin Segerström at ALTEN Sweden.

About ALTEN Sweden AB:
ALTEN has been established in Sweden since November of 2008 and is today one of the largest consultancy companies in Europe within technology and IT. ALTEN is present in 20 countries, with its headquarters in Paris, and has over 28 000 employees where 88 % are engineers. In Sweden, ALTEN has 1700 employees and offices in twelve different locations. In Sweden, most of ALTEN's customers are within the automobile-, telecom-, defense-, energy- and life science industries where ALTEN is active throughout the development chain. The Design & Visualization department works with industrial design as well as supporting our customers in graphical projects.

Sandvik's unique guitar supports Engineers Without Borders Sweden

Global engineering company Sandvik, main sponsor of Engineers Without Borders in Sweden, recently presented the world’s first smash-proof guitar. 

The guitar was part of a project to demonstrate how Sandvik could use their sustainable, cutting-edge techniques to make something that is both highly precise and amazingly durable.

In a short film, guitar virtuoso and notorious guitar smasher Yngwie Malmsteen was then challenged to destroy the unique, 3D printed all-metal guitar during a live show in Miami. The guitar stood the test.

Since the project was launched on April 9, the guitar has evoked massive global interest, resulting in hundreds of articles and millions of views. Now, Sandvik announces the guitar, played and signed by Malmsteen, will be auctioned on the music site Reverb.com starting on May 2. Visit Reverb to learn more about the auction or to place your bid: Reverb Sandvik auction

Sandvik has decided that the funds from this auction will be donated to Engineers Without Borders Sweden. 

You can read more about the guitar project at: home.sandvik/letscreate

Annual Recruitment Day

Engineer to Engineer held their annual Recruitment Day, a job fair that focuses on helping asylum seekers and newly arrived to find a job.

The Engineer to Engineer team would like to thank all the participants for attending and the companies that made the day possible!

WSP, Klarna, Semcon, Sherwin-Williams, Academicum, Berotec, Lexher, Agima Management, Precisit, Plan B, Knightec, Mercodia, Netlight Consulting, Agile Search, Sustainability InnoCenter, Openhack, Airjobb, UU Career, Sveriges ingenjörer and Novare Potential.

Does your company want to be part of our next Recruitment Day? Send an email to event.e2euppsala@ewb-swe.org and we will send you more information!

How can the Nordic countries become more self-sufficient in vegetable production?

Together with the company Ljusgårda, we held a workshop on the subject indoor planting. It highlighted the importance of Nordic countries to become more self-sufficient on vegetables and how indoor planting is one solution. The participants were provided with a case from Ljusgårda on how to solve a problem regarding the system for water supply for the plants. The visitors got to try this technique for themselves using some equipment brought by Ljusgårda and a PET-bottle.

The Reflective Engineer is a part of Engineers Without Borders where we aim to broaden our member's perspectives on ethical and environmental issues. We believe that all of us should reflect on the impact our actions can have on societies, environment and people’s lives. We take both a local and global perspective on how we as engineers or scientists can have an impact on our respective fields of competence. At the same time, we want to inspire our members and others to take actions for a sustainable future. We do this through workshops, seminars, lectures, debates, and exhibitions.

Technical Focus Group in Energy

Engineers Without Borders Sweden is forming a new Technical Focus Group in Energy. Are you experienced within the energy sector and have an interest in contributing to the international work of EWB, please check this out!

https://volunteer.ewb-swe.org/jobs/199696-technical-focus-group-in-energy

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.