Odyssey Design Challenge To Revamp Soda Springs

ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS NZ MEDIA RELEASE:

Odyssey Design Challenge To Revamp Soda Springs

The historic Waitangi Soda Springs - halfway between Rotorua and Whaktane - is the focus of this year’s annual, Odyssey Design Challenge run by Engineers Without Borders NZ (EWBNZ) in conjunction with universities around New Zealand and Sinclair, Knight Merz (SKM).

This weekend a team of engineering students and supervisors will converge on the geothermal pools. Their challenge will be to design a solution to issues faced by the Waitangi Soda Springs Trust including power supply, running water and sanitation. Competitors will arrive at Soda Springs on the 22 May to study the area and meet with Waitangi Trust members.

Competitors will be required to design a solution for one or a combination of issues using sustainable, practical techniques.

“The Odyssey Design Challenge requires participants to submit a solution to a real problem faced by a community in need, who do not have the resources to solve it themselves,” says Design Challenge coordinator, Matthew Ng-Wai Shing.

“The Waitangi Trust’s mission is to create a legacy for future generations and value for their beneficiaries. Competitors must keep the trust's objectives and needs closely in mind when creating their design proposals.”

The springs are a greatly valued taonga or treasure of the local hapu and historically they have formed an important cultural, educational and medicinal hub. The 2010 Odyssey Challenge has been kindly sponsored by SKM (Sinclair Knight Merz), a leading engineering, science and project delivery firm that has been supporting the Challeneg since 2008.

All students competing in the Odyssey Design Challenge are talented young people who believe in the philosophy of Engineers Without Borders: to confront global challenges of poverty, sustainable development and social inequity by undertaking projects that will directly improve the quality of life of communities within New Zealand and in the South Pacific region. The students visit to Soda Springs also coincides with the beginning of Youth Week 2010 and demonstrates young people making a positive contribution to the lives of others.

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