Memorial University’s Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Chapter is hosting a Global Engineering Networking Night at Yellow Belly on March 23rd.

“In today’s society an engineer cannot just be technology and math based, you need to understand the societal and cultural impacts of the work you do. You need to be aware of the various interdisciplinary roles an engineer has to be able to do” said Anna Gosine, the Global Engineering Lead for MUN’s EWB Chapter.

MUN’s EWB Chapter shares EWB Canada’s mandate of alleviating poverty through systemic change. The national organization has a number of initiatives both within Canada and in Sub-Saharan Africa that focus on improving the quality of life of people living in poverty.

“EWB is not an organization that will go into a community and build a well or build a school, it will provide people with the education and resources necessary to let them do those things themselves, that way the projects we support are sustainable and able to be successful when we leave the community we’re working in” Gosine explained.

Each year, MUN’s EWB Chapter sends one student elsewhere in Canada or overseas to work on one of the national chapter’s projects through EWB Canada’s Junior Fellowship Program. This year Gosine has been chosen to travel Malawi to work on a water and sanitation project, called WASH catalysts.

“The project is going to be ending while I’m there. It’s going to be really interesting to get to see how an NGO works to get out of the place they’re working in” Gosine said, noting that EWB is recognized for developing projects that remain viable once the organization pulls out of the community.

As the Global Engineering Lead at MUN’S EWB Chapter, Gosine is passionate about changing students’ perspectives on what it means to enter the field of engineering. She teaches students that being a good engineer requires more than having a knack for math. She argues that in order to be a good engineer, you have to be aware of the socio-economic impact of the projects you choose to work on.

The Global Engineering Networking Night, is an event designed to get people talking about what it means to engineer ethically.

“The main goal of the event is to help spark conversation about the engineer’s role in tackling huge world issues. It’ll be a great time for chatting with like-minded individuals about engineers’ global responsibility, and the need for engineers to think systemically” said Gosine.

Gosine says that while the networking event is primarily aimed at engineers and engineering students, she believes being a global engineer means being able to do interdisciplinary work with people in other fields, including medicine, sociology, and business.

For that reason she encourages anyone with an interest in global engineering to attend and join the conversation.

Tickets to the event are $25 and are available at mun@ewb.ca. Food and cocktails will be served at the event, followed by presentations and roundtable discussions on what it means to be an engineer with a global perspective.