Humanitarian Engineering | ANU College of Systems and Society

Engineering undertaken with the informed intention to address disadvantage.

Humanitarian Engineering explores the role and application of engineering to disadvantaged, marginalised and vulnerable communities to improve quality of life and support empowerment.

It provides a connection between engineering and development, placing human well-being at the centre of engineering practice.

The School of Engineering delivers education opportunities and partnerships with community groups, not-for-profit and social enterprises working on Humanitarian Engineering.

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For students

Find out more about studying Humanitarian Engineering at ANU and opportunities inside and outside of the classroom.

Study Humanitarian Engineering

“My ethos in life is to leave the world in a better place than when I first came in. The crux of human-centred design is putting the stakeholders or the people you are designing for, as the main part of the solution.” - Maxine Wu

See our impact

Learn about the impact of ANU Humanitarian Engineering and how you can partner with us on research, projects, and educational collaborations.

The ANU is one of the leaders of humanitarian engineering education in Australia for positive impact and human wellbeing. It was the first university to offer a dedicated humanitarian engineering elective and had students on the very first Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Humanitarian Design Summit in January 2015. Educators such as Jeremy Smith have been recognised through awards including a national Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) citation for leadership in nurturing the field in Australia. Much of the research in engineering at ANU has applications in humanitarian contexts, ranging from solar energy for electricity, drones for disaster response and planning, and mobile phone based health technologies. The ANU is a world leading university in development studies, climate change and public policy, areas that are part of the broader knowledge of a humanitarian engineer.

Humanitarian engineering partners

We have a number of community and social-enterprise partners. These include:

Abundant Water

Abundant Water work in Laos, Nepal, and Timor-Leste to provide access to clean drinking water through ceramin water filters.

Engineers Without Borders Australia

EWB are working towards creating social value through engineering.

Enabler Interactive

Working to create positive social impact through innovation in training and education.

Abundant Water, Enable Development and Okra were all founded or co-founded by ANU engineering graduates, highlighting the potential of ANU engineers to create lasting and positive social change.