Humanitarian engineering research addresses school children’s exposure to air pollution in urban and peri-urban areas of Solomon Islands capital Honiara, - in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy).
Humanitarian engineering research addresses chronic needs of poverty and lack of resources in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as well as acute needs associated with natural disasters and human displacement. Humanitarian Engineering is a part of every School in the UNSW Engineering Faculty, with real-world research being undertaken to develop appropriate and sustainable solutions to problems for disadvantaged communities.
UNSW Humanitarian Engineering (HE) academic lead Dr Andrew Dansie manages the UNSW HE competitive small grants program. “The program is designed” he says, “to provide some extra support for PhD researchers whose research aim is to foster local partnerships and improve the lives and livelihoods of those in need in low or middle-income countries and Australia.”
Jimmy Hilly was a recipient of a UNSW Humanitarian Engineering grant which supported his study of school children’s exposure to air pollution in the Solomon Island’s capital, Honiara.
Jimmy Hilly is a PhD candidate at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering who recently submitted his thesis on “Air quality and health risk in the Pacific, Focusing on Fiji and the Solomon Islands” under the supervision of Dr Andrew Dansie. Hilly was also a recipient of the Australian Government’s Research Training Program Scholarship (RTP). His PhD project is part of a broader air quality monitoring program in the Pacific in partnership with Pacific governments and universities.