University of the Sunshine Coast students competing next semester in a global humanitarian engineering contest to help residents of a poor, remote African village will have a high-tech advantage over their rivals.

World-leading immersive 3D visualisation equipment has just been installed as the centrepiece of a soon-to-be-completed Engineering Learning Hub on the USC campus at Sippy Downs.

The equipment will enable USC’s Engineering students taking part in the annual Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Challenge to virtually walk around Bambui village in Cameroon to see what work is required and accurately assess the likely impacts of that work.

The EWB Challenge involves more than 60 universities and is designed to introduce first-year engineering students to the concepts of humanitarian engineering, such as poverty alleviation and environmental protection, by working on real-world development projects.

USC Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Selvan Pather said humanitarian engineering used a people-centred, strength-based approach to improve community health, well-being and opportunity.

Invited guests at the Vice-Chancellor’s morning tea on World Environmental Day on Sunday 7 June will get a sneak preview of the visualisation facilities and take a virtual walk around the village of Bambui.

The viewing will be held prior to the start of the Sunshine Coast World Environment Day festival on the USC campus at Sippy Downs at 10am.

The three-storey $37.2 million Engineering Learning Hub is an initiative of the Australian Government’s Education Investment Fund and USC. It is due to be officially opened later this year.

— Terry Walsh