June 29, 2020

Not just Engineers. Humanitarians.

Meg Cummins has a passion for helping others.

It was this passion that landed her in Rwanda two years ago – a country trying to recover from decades of human rights issues. Meg was part of a UOW cohort from the Humanitarian Engineering subject.

The subject offers students a life changing experience and new perspective about the impact their engineering skills can have within the real world.

Meg and a team of students fundraised, designed, and built a water drainage management system and playground at a school in Kigali; a classroom for a new school in Ruhinga; and a water supply system for a community centre in Nyamata.

“I’ll always feel so incredibly lucky to be involved with Humanitarian Engineering at UOW, I am so inspired by the amazing group of people who drive the subjects and I can’t wait to see the change that we all make through this subject and in the wider world,” she said.

Meg was so moved by her experience as a participant, she hoped to act as a mentor for the next round of volunteers. But COVID put a stop to those plans for now.

“We can’t travel now, but we are planning our return for early 2022.”

Meg is currently studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (Environmental) (Honours).
If you also have a desire to help those in need in a practical way, then Humanitarian Engineering might be the answer.