Passion and Professionalism - Katie Third
Katie Third is an environmental engineer determined to make a difference. After an eye-opening experience as an exchange student in a rural village in Paraguay, South America, she promised herself she would do something to help people in developing countries.
"My time in Paraguay made me aware of just how lucky we are in the western world to have all the amenities and resources we could possibly want. Rural Paraguayans experience frequent sickness due to dirty drinking water, and their waterways are extremely polluted due to unlimited discharge of industrial waste into rivers and surface water, where they go swimming and bathing. This experience was an important turning point in my life."
With a strong interest in water and sanitation, and specifically in the biological aspects, Katie chose to study biotechnology and bioengineering as an undergraduate, and majored in environmental and industrial microbiology. She then decided to specialise in biological wastewater treatment and did a PhD in environmental biotechnology, which looked at biological nitrogen removal from wastewater.
After a year in Holland, where she worked with a consulting company carrying out water and wastewater infrastructure design projects locally and in under-developed countries such as Mali, Aruba, Vietnam and Romania, she returned to Australia and joined Sinclair Knight Merz, which has a long-standing background of water projects in developing countries, particularly in South-East Asia.
Katie's professional expertise and personal passion led her to volunteer her time with Engineers Without Borders.
"Around a year ago I came across Engineers Without Borders (EWB), which has been fantastic. For me it's an ideal way to work full time while still contributing to helping less fortunate countries with their water infrastructure.
"I'm currently managing EWB's volunteer water supply project in Tenganan, Bali, and am enjoying it immensely. Mostly because I get to work with great, enthusiastic people who have a similar passion to mine and who are committed to making things better for less fortunate people.
"Engineers Without Borders are doing great things and I'm glad I can contribute to helping them achieve their mission."
The Tenganan water supply project will eventually provide safe drinking water to around 4,000 people. EWB currently has around 40 people in Australia volunteering their time and expertise to the project. Once the design is complete, EWB will oversee the construction of the system, which will involve local materials and labour.
