By Anita Goyal, EWB-UK Publicity Team

EWB UK has successfully held its first research conference bringing academics, students, NGO’s, and industry together to understand how research contributes to progress in international development and the way in which research is approached by different stakeholders.

As one of the six focuses of EWB UK, the research initiative has recently strengthened as a result of DFID funding channelled into this area. Increased capacity has enabled the organisation to engage with local and international NGO’s and industry across the UK to offer a wider selection of research projects suited to those with an interest in engineering and development research. The conference highlighted past achievements in research by EWB UK members from a range of different universities. A collaborative effort between different organisations and EWB UK members has previously achieved a high quality of projects, some of which were showcased throughout the day. From cooking stoves and solar panels to water filtration devices for rural communities, the importance of this work was undoubtedly evident.

The existing need for technical research to provide real and simple solutions to engineering problems in an international development context was a thought echoed throughout the day particularly noted in the intermediary discussion sessions when attendees broke out into 8 groups to discuss different aspects of EWB UK research in more depth. It was also identified that the success of previous projects has been highly dependent on EWB UK acting as a link between research bodies, NGO’s and industry.

Speakers at the conference were from a variety of backgrounds. Following an introduction from Sue Doran of the IStructE, Dr Heather Cruikshank of the Centre for Sustainable Development, Cambridge, discussed the benefits of research in the engineering and development field using examples from projects undertaken by her own masters level students. The focus of this presentation was on the benefits from the process of research. From past experience, Dr Cruikshank remarked that working on a problem directly related to existing communities and their development needs definitely motivates students who are noticeably passive towards the engineering degree as they progress towards the end of their formal education. Research also provides an opportunity to develop relationships between communities which would otherwise not be possible. This provides a platform for knowledge exchange to better understand international development issues and hence provide more appropriate solutions.

Neil Jeffery of International Development Enterprises (IDE) spoke from the NGO perspective. IDE sell low cost products developed for poor farming communities. His experience of research between NGO’s and academic institutions (funded by external agencies) proved that the cost of products sold by IDE is lower, since research and development is not included in the total unit cost of equipment. He is keen to encourage externally funded research to ensure that communities can continue to afford essential equipment for farming.

Dr Stephen Gundry of the Water and Health Research Centre, University of Bristol, talked about the benefits of past and ongoing student research to develop the Aquatest water testing equipment for use in development and disaster relief situations. Similarly, Ron Dennis of Development Technology, Imperial College, talked about the development of the bicycle and motorcycle ambulances to improve transportation to emergency health facilities. These examples of low cost engineering solutions to problems are encouraging for the engineering and development research community. The penultimate speaker for the evening was Mariel John, who gave an overview of EngINdia, set up by a group of students in 2005. She illustrated the importance of understanding issues in developing communities before launching in with solutions.

Thalia Konaris, CEO of EWB UK wrapped up the proceedings with an inspiring speech about the importance of engineering research in development and how we can work together to progress our international development efforts. There are many people involved in all aspects of international development and research is highly important in sharing knowledge and skills to continuously work towards the best solutions possible.