Engineers Without Borders UK marked its 15th anniversary with an evening of celebrations with its members, partners and trustees. Held at the London headquarters of its sponsor Anglo American, the event brought together those that had played a key role in the organisation’s history, highlighted the charity’s achievements and shared its vision for the future.
“We have no planet B and time is running out,” said Katie Cresswell-Maynard, Chief Executive, Engineers Without Borders UK. “This is the only planet we’ll ever have, and that’s why it is our global responsibility to look after it. Engineers Without Borders UK does vital work to educate, inspire and empower engineers to transform the world around us to be fairer, greener and safer. We might be a small organisation, but we are a mighty one.
Since the beginning, our members and partners have been instrumental in helping raise awareness of the power of responsible engineering. These first 15 years have been fantastic, just imagine how much more we can achieve in the next 15?” she concluded.
Founded by students at Cambridge University, Engineers Without Borders UK has grown to be a powerful organisation with over 2,000 members and Chapters in 25 universities. The charity plays a crucial role in STEM education in the UK, with outreach programmes in schools and universities, including the award-winning Engineering for People Design Challenge, which has reached over 34,500 undergraduate students.
The work it does to promote globally responsible engineering resonates strongly with many forward-thinking engineering and technology companies.
Jonathan Samuel, Group Head of Social Performance and Engagement at Anglo American said “One of the reasons why our partnership with Engineers Without Borders UK is so important is because we want more engineers that are coming out of university to understand how to build alliances in communities rather than being a huge imposition. We want them to understand the importance of being good neighbours and involvement with Engineers Without Borders UK either through a university chapter or through the Engineering for People Design Challenge does that. “
One of the guests at the event was Professor Peter Hansford, who as well as having served on the Engineers Without Borders UK Board, is a past-President of the Institution of Civil Engineers and formerly the UK government’s chief construction adviser. He said “I am really proud of what we have done. When I joined the board my mission was to make us a ‘grown-up charity’ and we did that and now today’s team are going further forward. I think that Engineers Without Borders UK has an important part to play in changing the world”.
