Have a look at what EWB-NMMU is up to.

This year EWB-NMMU has had the privilege of being able to work on and assist two wonderful projects. First, developing and building a robotic arm to  help with residents of Cheshire homes with a limited range of arm motion . Secondly assisting with technical expertise and workshop resources the Joe Slovo west creche project.

The robotic arm was seen as a great future help to residents of Cheshire homes as well as a practical learning platform for mechatronics students and such it was conceptualized, designed and built in-house by German exchange students. It is still in its prototype phase , and it will be constantly improved on and implemented in practice in the near future.

The Joe slovo creche project is a continued project from 2015 and this year saw the official opening ceremony held on July 5th , which saw the various stakeholders attend and also saw Ralph from EWB-Unisa present what Engineers Without Borders has been doing to help the project and it also saw the announcement of the biogas digestor which was donated by EWB-Unisa to the project. The biogas digestor is a step forward as it will present an opportunity to add to the environmentally friendly and green value of this project , as well as help produce gas for warm food!

There are still weekly visits by EWB-NMMU to Cheshire homes in order to assist at the workshop and maintenance of the wheelchairs. The behind the scenes work at the Joe Slovo creche project continues and continues to provide positive results.

From March 2014 to present, Engineers Without Borders-NMMU chapter has been involved with the
Indalo project In the Joe Slovo townships.
Through this project EWB-NMMU has collaborated with a few organisations namely the French Architects collective ‘SAGA’and the NGO ‘Love Story’.

EWB-NMMU raised and donated money towards the completion of the project and facilitated the making of several structural parts through the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s Laboratories.

Further details about the project can be found on the Collective Saga website.

This project has also been featured on ArchDaily.

In an effort to better equip the Cheshire home with machining tools, a pedestal drill press including a set of drill bits was donated by Engineers without borders NMMU through funding from the AMTC (Advanced Mechatronics Technology Centre) this year, this also includes tools such as an inverter Stick Welder and an electric winch.

The pictures show the Workshop at Cheshire and Rodney Lavin who is in charge of the workshop.
The mini upgrade project of the old hoist system can also be seen.

The old hydraulic hoist has been upgraded to a hoist operated by an electric winch making operation of the hoist easier.

Only the cabling of the winch still needs to be isolated.

The meeting EWB-NMMU had with the Eastern Cape Cerebral Palsy Center:
Linge’s Tot has been having issues registering themselves with the minister of health, they have approached EWB-NMMU Through the eastern cape center for cerebral palsy to help them do so.

The aim of the meeting was to discuss a report that EWB-NMMU compiled for Linge’s Tots addressing the safety issues that need to be dealt with in order to have the center registered.

The meeting with The SOS children village, was the first time EWB-NMMU was introduced to the village. Some of the issues at the village were discussed. Main problems were water leaks inside the houses. At this stage EWB-NMMU is brainstorming on the issue.

The EWB-NMMU team in collaboration with ‘Love Story – Go And Do The Same‘ went out to Joe Slovo where a pre-school needed a fence to be rebuilt. The next step is to paint it and give it a nice finish. Well done!

EWB-NMMU (Engineers Without Borders-NMMU) had an interview with Algoa fm under the section ” we care”.  EWB-NMMU spoke about themselves, their level of involvement with local communities and the work that has been done so far. It turned out to be more of an information session to the general public about EWB-NMMU  and EWB-SA in general. It was a great experience and opportunity for EWB-NNMU.

Well done Engineers Without Borders – NMMU! They have been awarded 1st prize in the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chambers Awards for Innovation in Health and Wellness!