About Us | History

Engineers Without Borders was initially founded in France in the 1980's (as Ingénieurs Sans Frontiers). Since then many countries throughout the world have founded their own branches. Each EWB national group has developed independently and many are not formally affiliated with each other. Each group does however share the same common principle of promoting sustainable development through engineering.

EWB-Ireland was initially founded in 2007; after a lull in activities a small group of engineers began discussions on reviving EWB-Ireland in 2009. These discussions led to the formation of EWB-Ireland’s first national committee in January 2010. The committee is comprised of a small group of committed engineers from numerous disciplines.

On 4th April 2011 EWB-UK and EWB-Ireland signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Prior to the MoU both organizations interacted though a number of activities and shared a number of members who spent time volunteering for each organization. As a result the two organizations aims and objectives were similar and compatible. Both organizations believe that the MoU would be of considerable benefit, not simply to be good neighbors but also for the greater long-term success in achieving our missions.

In summary the agreement will assist the development of EWB-Ireland and its membership/volunteer base.  Through the partnership EWB-UK will:

• Share advice/material with EWB-Ireland,
• Offer opportunities in research programmes and volunteer placements,
• Allow Irish nationals to apply for EWB-UK bursaries.

 This MoU has opened up many opportunities for Irish members of the branch and EWB-Ireland look forward to working together with EWB-UK in the development of EWB-Ireland.