Engineers Without Borders Bristol Annual Report 2005-2006

1. For more information visit: www.ewb-uk.org/bristol Engineers Without Borders Bristol Annual Report 2005-2006

2. 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. 1

3. 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. 2

4. 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 Solar Car 3

5. 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 4

6. 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 Bursary Applications 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. Peter Lai 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. Rob Cottrell and Harry Grey Slow Sand Filter at Fresh 5

7. 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. 6

8. 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. Rob Cottrell and Hugo Baker 7

9. 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. 8

10. 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. Other current projects in Bristol include research in Economic leak detection in water distribution networks and Short Term Food Preservation . Rob Read 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. First Sustainable IT Centre at St. Joseph’s Senior Secondary School in Naggalama 9

11. 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 pico-hydro 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 10

12. Finance Summary of Accounts 8th December 2005 to 23rd November 2006 Balance at 23rd November 2006 £1,359.40 11

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14. 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. 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 www.ewb-uk.org/contact/bristol 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 13

15. 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 14

16. For more information visit: www.ewb-uk.org/bristol 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. 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. Accenture – for their generous support of this years talks, providing us with the opportunity to provide a wider variety of areas and speakers Or come along to one of our committee meetings that are held every Monday of term at 1pm in the Andrew Roberts Room 15