Transcript Slide 1

Engineers
Without Borders
Bristol
Annual Report
2005-2006
For more information visit:
www.ewb-uk.org/bristol
Introduction
Engineers Without Boarders UK is a student-run charity with the
mission to facilitate human development through engineering. EWB
Bristol is one of a number of university-based branches of EWB UK,
and we aim to support this mission by:
•Raising awareness of development engineering problems
•Fostering university-based research in these areas
•Holding presentations and seminars
•Holding fundraising activities
•Supporting our members on EWB UK training courses and
placements
Engineers Without Borders Bristol was set up by Dafydd Elis in
November 2003 and since then has grown to be successful both
inside and out of the university circle. It has pulled through a number
of difficulties and grown to be one of the largest EWB branches in the
country. It is with this large membership behind us that we have
begun to work within the faculty, including presenting talks during
lecture time and supporting design projects.
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Organisation & Committee
This year has been a huge success for the committee.
We started off the year with a small dedicated core of
people all working very hard on each of their areas,
including Projects, Talks, Bursaries and Placements.
Thanks to the new fresh stand and a focused committee
we welcomed a large number of new faces to the team
at the start of the Autumn term. This was fantastic as it
allowed the workload to be shared between a number of
officers in each position, whilst producing higher quality
results.
This year we have really tried to provide a sustainable
structure to the committee, splitting up the different areas
and insuring that officers knew their responsibilities. This
has lead to a thriving committee who have the potential
to go far.
Due to minimal funding from membership the committee
took the decision to become affiliated with the union.
This will allow us to apply to cover costs such as
printing.
EWB Bristol would just like to thank everyone who has
helped out over the past year with a special mention to
Jenny Neil, Carlos Fernandez-Aballi, Emma Greer,
James Westby, and Rachel Weymouth.
President
Rob Cottrell
Vice- President
Hugo Baker
Treasure
Tim Longley
Sectary
Sally Guscott
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Activities
After last years AGM we defined a set of objectives that we wanted to
achieve over the year. High on the agenda was to continue with the
successful activities that had been done over the previous year. This
included talks, research projects, fundraising events and publicity. We are
proud to say that we have had huge success in all of these areas and
more. The activities of EWB Bristol over the past year are summarised
over the following pages
Solar Car Workshop for The University of Bristol Union
The union was running a day for local school kids and asked some
societies if they were interested in running a 2 hr work shop. We agreed.
We took 20 kids of 16 – 18 years old and split them into teams of 5. We
gave each team a lego car, a PVC solar panel with motor attached and
a few bit and pieces ( rubber bands coat hangers etc)
We gave them the brief of building a solar powered lego car. The only
problem is that solar energy is not constant so they had to find some
way of storing the solar energy and then racing their cars at the end of
the workshop. EWB Bristol pre-built a car as a demonstration model.
Unfortunately none of the teams managed to build a working car. We
are now looking to improve the workshop to insure that it is easier for
the children and will mean that they learn more about solar energy. The
event was a huge success and EWB Bristol are looking to expand the
workshop into schools in the local area
Barbra Valcuende and
Carlos Fernandez-Aballi
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Solar Car
Talks
The year started with Tom Newby (one of EWB-UK’s
trustees) giving an introduction into Engineering Without
Border’s founding ideals and the exciting things that are
planned in the future. Tom also discussed some of the
problems facing EWB and how members can to help
solve them.
Throughout the rest of the term there have been a series
of lectures on the theme of ‘water and sanitation’. Alex
Griffin discussed her recent work in the Jungles of
Ecuador. This was followed by a presentation from
Bristol students on the success of their trip to Cuba as
part of the Havana Water Project. The series ended with
Dale Murray describing his experience working in East
Africa as a Hydrologist.
Next term’s talks will be based on the renewable energy
and sustainability.
EWB Bristol are proud to have their talks this year
sponsored by Accenture
Ollie Stross
Publicity
EWB Bristol has had a lot of publicity this year obtaining
regular slots in the engineering faculty news letter. It has
also received publicity in the University News letter,
University website as well as the BBCs website. We
have also secured a prime position in the faculty for a
Notice Board, aiding us in raising awareness of both
students and staff with in the faculty.
We were nominated for a number of society awards
including best fundraiser and best event.
Natalie Skinner and Gillian Towns
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New Website
This year we have build a new EWB Bristol website within the EWB UK
site. This is the place to find all the latest news and events that are
taking place. If you are currently not signed up to the site then please go
to www.ewb-uk.org/bristol and sign up on the left hand side.
George Quilter and Andrew Franks
Fresh Stand
This year we renewed our fresh stand,
making it something that we can be
proud of. The stand included large
framed posters, a lego solar car and a
sand filter as some of the main
attractions. This coming year we have
already started on improvements to the
sand filter ensuring that it can be more
easily transported.
Slow Sand Filter at Fresh
Rob Cottrell and Harry Grey
Bursary Applications
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The EWB UK bursary scheme has been a great success at the Bristol
branch this year. Bristol has allocated almost £2000 to groups and
individuals wanting to use the money for projects that use their
engineering and other skills to improve the quality of life for many
people around the world.
This year £500 was allocated to a group from Imperial College towards
the Building Bridges project in Malawi, £300 to a group from
Birmingham to improve the management of groundwater resources in
Brazil, £380 to Pilar Romero Ardoy for water and sanitation analysis in
Peru, and £800 was allocated to Dafydd Elis to investigate solar panel
technology in Nicgragua.
The rise in applications this year is most welcome, and we hope that
even more people can be encouraged to apply for this excellent scheme
in years to come.
Training
Humanitarian and Development Principles
On the 9th of December, Andrew Lamb from RedR-IHE
(www.redr.org/ ) will be visiting Bristol to run a workshop
entitled Humanitarian and Development Principles. This
workshop is based on a 5-day course that RedR run,
and is a great opportunity to discover what makes an
effective humanitarian or development worker, by
exploring the concepts and principles of humanitarianism
and the realities of work in the field. This is a very
interactive course, and will involve discussions, case
studies and group/role-playing activities.
The workshop is open to all EWB Bristol members, is
free, and is especially relevant to those thinking of
applying for an EWB summer placement or working for
any other development organisation.
EWB Bristol are looking to organise a number of further
training events over the coming year
Alastair Lynch and Huw Williams
EWB Bristol Library
This year EWB Bristol donated all of its books to the
Queens Building Library. We felt that they would then me
more accessible to our members. You can now take out
top titles such as Lifting the Lid An ecological approach
to toilet systems, the handbook of gravity flow water
systems and the ICE 6th Brunel Lecture.
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Socials
Even though EWB Bristol is not a drinking society we have found there
is a need for social events. This lets the committee bond a lot better
while also encouraging the inactive members to get a little more
involved. This is an area that we need to get right next year.
Deborah Berens
SHA –LA Fundraising Night
Money to set up a Sustainable Info Centre in a school in Uganda
A group of students from EWB Bristol decided to carry on the highly
successful SHA –LA 2005 with SHA –LA 2006. The night was held in
Thekla and bands included Bizali, El Guapo and HornStars, with
acoustic sets from Majic Lantern, Rory Nunn and Jack Wylson. The
night was a huge success raising over £1,800 to instigate setting up the
Infocentre in a school in Uganda.
SHA-LA 2007 is in the organisational stages with the event being in the
early part of the spring term 2007.
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Rob Cottrell and Hugo Baker
Fundraising
EWB-Bristol managed to sign up over 120 new members
at FRESH, generating considerable £250 revenue.
Some of our other fundraising initiatives so far this year
involved the following:
Accenture sponsorship: Accenture ran a competition
this year to determine which societies they should
sponsor. EWB-Bristol was successfully awarded a
generous £150.
Events: Fundraising initiatives have been planned in
cooperation with EWB-Bath, including a forthcoming
‘Water-Race’,
involving
participants
from
both
universities, working with the
charity, WaterAid.
Professional sponsorship: Plans are underway to seek
funding from companies who are interested in the work
of EWB.
Derek Sheen
Bristol Unplugged
www.bristolunplugged.org/whoarewe.html
EWB Bristol has instigated Bristol Unplugged. The idea
of Bristol Unplugged is provide a space where students
can get more information on climate change,
sustainability within the UK and what they can do to
make a difference.
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Projects
Every year NGOs approach EWB with a list of projects that they want to
be undertaken that will help their work in the field. These projects are
then seen by the National Research Team for initial consideration. They
are then handed onto branch Research Officers who further consider
their suitability and who have to try and find interest both from academic
staff to supervise the project as well as from students who wish to work
on these projects. Typically the projects are aimed at 3rd and 4th year
students although some of them can be undertaken by 1st and 2nd
years over and above their courses.
Over the last year we have had a number of projects running.
These include:
Supporting Matthew Waterkeyn who is making a documentary out in
South Africa. The short film will be about the slums in Cape Town and
focusing on the engineering solutions that have been implemented
there. He will also cover footage about the Community Health Clubs set
up there by ZimAhead in Zimbabwe. We are looking forward to seeing
Matt’s film on his return to the UK in May next year.
First Sustainable IT
Centre at St. Joseph’s
Senior Secondary School
in Naggalama
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One of the larger projects has been the
Uganda Infocentre Project, which is
almost
completed.
This
project
eventually aims to identify schools in
rural areas and provide them with
computers and internet services, train
teachers to improve their computer
literacy, educate people on how to use
the internet to their benefit and to help
boost the economy. We are looking to
enter this project into the Mondialogo
Engineering Award 2006/2007.
Other current projects in Bristol include research in Economic leak
detection in water distribution networks and Short Term Food
Preservation .
Rob Read
Placements
This year EWB Bristol sent one student on an EWB UK
placement. An account of his experiences are given
below
Sri Lanka: Domestic Pico-hydro
This is the second year EWB-UK has partnered with
Practical Action (previously known as ITDG, the
Intermediate Technology Development Group) in Sri
Lanka. Practical Action’s aim in this project is to assess
the potential for improving the existing informal picohydro schemes in rural off-grid areas to increase their
efficiency and safety.
“After a week acclimatising and preparing at the Practical
Action offices in Colombo, we spent two weeks
conducting on-site surveys of existing pico-hydro
systems in the remote rural village of Illumbekanda. This
included testing the flow and head, as well as interview
with the owners of the different systems.
Back in Colombo we presented our initial findings to
Practical Action and planned how to set up a turbine and
generator made by the local manufacturers to test the
performance more precisely. Over the next two weeks
we then set up a bed which we would use for testing.
After various setbacks an initial testing rig was created,
but the first results from this indicated that a more
reliable set up is still needed.
Once the testing process had been refined and
completed, we will continue our investigations and then
make recommendations to Practical Action on suitable
designs for a possible pico-hydro system that the
organisation can develop and implement in the region.”
Alastair Wiles,
Engineering Design, graduated June 2006
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Finance
Summary of Accounts
8th December 2005 to 23rd November 2006
INCOME
Membership Subscription
Fundraising
Bursaries
Donations
Total Income
AMOUNT
£202.00
£3,245.25
£800.00
£105.00
£4,352.25
EXPENDITURE
EWB Fresh Stall
EWB Talks
Fundraising Costs
Printing
Bursaries
CAT Training Course in Cardiff
Donations – Africa Ahead
Donations – St Joseph's School, Uganda
Total Expenditure
£50.00
£250.96
£55.93
£156.61
£800.00
£150.00
£1,005.00
£1,985.00
£4,453.50
Excess of income over expenditure
Balance From Previous Period
-£101.25
£1,460.65
Balance at 23rd November 2006
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£1,359.40
Income
M embership Subscriptio n
B ursaries
Fundraising
Do natio ns
Expenditure
EWB Fresh Stall
EWB Talks
Fundraising Co sts
P rinting
CA T Training Co urse in
Cardiff
Do natio ns
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PiTAD and
Mondialogo Engineering Award
We have finally set up PiTAD (Platform for the Implementation of
Appropriate Development Technologies). The idea of PiTAD is to
provide a way for universities to join together in order to tackle some of
the pressing problems faced in developed and developing countries by
coming up with smart, appropriate and economically viable systems to
each problem. Bristol has started the ball rolling by creating a
permanent partnership with itself and CUJAE (The Polytechnic of
Havana, Cuba) and has started work on PiTADs first project, The
Havana Water Project.
The Havana Water Project is looking to
set up an optimisation and leak
detection sensor network throughout
Havana's existing water system, which
currently runs with losses of up to 60% often resulting in areas of the city's
water supply being cut off for days. The
project will compete in The Mondialogo
Engineering Award 06/07.
Leaking valve on the
CUJAE campus
We are also hoping to enter the Sustainable IT Centre project into this
years Mondialogo Engineering Award
If you are interested in getting involved in either the Havana Water
Project or The Sustainable IT Centre Project then please email us at
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www.ewb-uk.org/contact/bristol
Future Plans
This coming year EWB aims to strengthen its position
within the faculty and continue to be one of the most
active branches within EWB UK.
At present we have a large committee that needs to
ensure that they are well organised and remain good at
communicating so as to enable more events to be run
successfully.
We aim to continue with current activities. We look be
continuously working on projects such as PiTAD. With
talks we feel that we have hit the ideal number of 4
talks a term and SHA-LA is in its 3rd year running.
Next year we would like to expand in a number of areas
including Training, as we see this as an area that more
members can get involved in, and Research projects,
looking to have more 3rd and 4th years talking on EWB
UK research projects.
Next year will be a very exciting year for EWB Bristol
and we are all looking forward to a productive and fun
year.
Rob Cottrell and Harry Grey:
Leak Detection – Experimental
Rig
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Acknowledgements
EWB Bristol would like to thank the following:
EWB UK, UBU, University of Bristol Faculty of Engineering, FofE
Graphic Design Office, FofE Library, Careers Advisory Service and
TUBES for their support.
Particular mention to:
Professor Muir-Wood, Dr Gundry, Dr Gilbertson, Dr Wilcox, Dr Tierney,
Professor Cluckie, Dr Wanous, Patricia Rogers, Carrie Wattling, Marghi
Peacock, Melissa Bevan, Carla Antoniazzi, Virginia Bergin, John Bracey,
Janet Offer, Matthew King, Andrew Dixon
Other thanks to:
Carlos Fernandez-Aballi – As he has been a huge help and inspiration
to EWB Bristol over the 4 years that he as been here. We would not be
where we are today without his enthusasium and commitment to all
things to do with development engineering. This was recognised by the
engineering faculty by awarding him a prize for his commitment to
faculty and development engineering.
Accenture – for their generous support of this
years talks, providing us with the opportunity to
provide a wider variety of areas and speakers
I would also like to thank all of the previous committees for getting us to
where we are now and also to the present committee who have done a
fabulous job this year.
For more information visit:
www.ewb-uk.org/bristol
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Or come along to one of our committee meetings that are held every
Monday of term at 1pm in the Andrew Roberts Room