Two student teams from the University of Sheffield’s Global Engineering Challenge (GEC) programme represented the faculty at the Engineering for People Design Challenge 2024/25, organised by Engineering Without Borders UK & Ireland last month.
Hosted at Sheffield Hallam University, this highly regarded annual challenge involved more than 13,000 students from universities across the UK and Ireland, pushing them to develop engineering solutions with a positive social, environmental and economic impact. This year, two Sheffield student teams, WADR (Water Access Distribution Restoration) and Eco-San, focused their creativity on real-world challenges in Makers Valley, Johannesburg, with themes including clean water access and ecological sanitation.
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WADR took home the prestigious People’s Prize for developing an economical and accessible clean water system for the Maker’s Valley population. Standing out among 36 finalist teams from 26 universities, this is a fantastic achievement and powerful endorsement of the GEC programme’s emphasis on sustainability, inclusivity and global responsibility, according to the university.
‘Participating in both the Global Engineering Challenge week and the Engineers Without Borders “Engineering for People Design Challenge” was a great opportunity to develop key soft skills and learn about what is required to make a solution that is sustainable, inclusive and affordable, while still responding to key criteria,’ said Samantha Cheetham, Eco-San team member and biomedical engineering student. ‘I’m really proud of what my teammates and I have achieved and hope to use the skills I’ve gained in future projects.’
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Now in its 14th year, GEC brings together all first-year engineering students from across the faculty to collaborate in multidisciplinary teams, tackling meaningful design challenges with an emphasis on ethics, inclusivity and sustainability. Over the years, it has engaged more than 15,000 students, with invaluable guidance from more than 500 industry mentors and more than 500 academic staff mentors.