Oh, the places you will go with an ICE QUEST scholarship

Civil engineering is a global profession.

The skills you develop will be useful all around the world. It’s why getting professionally qualified with the ICE – a way to demonstrate your skills – has been referred to as a ticket to working abroad.

If you’re not looking to move, but would still like to broaden your horizons, then the ICE QUEST scholarships could be for you.

With travel and undergraduate options available, it could be the boost you need to mix engineering and travel, and gain valuable new perspectives and knowledge.

Past award winners have said their trips were transformative. Here are some of the places they visited.

Africa

Cameroon

“Access to clean water is a fundamental human right, yet so many still don’t have access to it,” writes Martha Day, PhD researcher at Imperial College London.

Martha and Julie-Nora Eldin travelled with Cameroon Catalyst in 2023 and 2018, respectively, to help provide much-needed water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure in rural areas.

They assessed the condition of existing wells, working with local teams to ensure maintenance and repairs would be prioritised (which wasn’t without its challenges!).

They also looked for sites that would be suitable for new wells. Importantly, they helped upskill local people so they would be able to build and look after this vital infrastructure.

Eswatini

While Tim Ashworth was volunteering to help build a footbridge in Eswatini, he got to hear firsthand how this work could be lifesaving.

Tim met a man who’d been swept away by the river while he was trying to make his way to work at the local high school. He was lucky to survive.

Thanks to the work of the Engineers in Action bridge programme, the river is now safe to cross.

“One of the most special moments for me was (...) when the chairwoman of the local bridge committee (...) broke down in tears and showed raw emotion of what this bridge meant to her and the whole community that she represented,” Tim writes.

Rwanda

Similarly to Tim, Nii Amanor Dodoo-Amoo headed to Rwanda to help build a new footbridge.

Alongside charity Bridges to Prosperity (B2P) and fellow ICE member, Sam Youdan, Nii worked on a 37m suspended cable footbridge to cross the river Yanzi.

It provides safe, year-round crossing for the local communities of Gatare in Rwanda, providing access to a market, a health clinic and primary school.

“The presence of the bridge goes beyond a physical piece of infrastructure,” said Nii. “The bridge shall also serve as a foundation for new opportunities for the Yanza and Rubonobono communities in Gatare.”

Zambia

A group of civil engineering and architecture students made their way to Zambia to reconstruct a sports court at Chipata Community School.

The school's existing court was well-loved and used daily, but years of wear had taken their toll. Cracks, uneven ground and poor drainage made it difficult and unsafe to play on it, especially for younger children without shoes.

The reconstruction project supported the work of Sport in Action, a Zambian non-governmental organisation that uses sport to improve the quality of life for young people.

As well as learning the essential skills that sport offers, the court is a safe space for children dealing with difficulties at home, allowing them to release emotions and connect with others.

Americas

Costa Rica

As well as using money from an ICE QUEST scholarship, Tom Housden raised funds for his trip to Costa Rica by running a half-marathon!

He was then off to Dorbata, a small village in the Costa Rican rain forest, home to 200 people. From there, he had to hike even further to arrive at the primary school he’d be helping to extend.

The school didn’t have a kitchen, and its isolated location meant that kids had to leave at midday as there was nowhere to feed them. The kitchen block Tom helped build meant they could now have full days of teaching.

As well as working on the school and teaching the locals English, Tom and his team even ended up building a gym made from spare materials and wood!

Guatemala

Guatemala is short of almost two million homes. Skye Carter used her award to join forces with Habitat for Humanity and help make a dent in that deficit.

She helped construct a house for a local family, and though the work was physically intense, the whole community got invested in collaborating and getting the build right.

Skye is now a site supervisor and civil engineer at Bechtel Corporation, the engineering and construction company, in North Macedonia.

USA

ICE Council member, Serena Gough, spent a year in the US studying at the University of Arizona.

Though she had to grapple with imperial units, she enjoyed the American style of teaching, made a lot of new friends and became more independent and confident.

Asia

Hong Kong

Dylan embarked on a world tour in 2023, partly funded by an ICE QUEST Travel scholarship.

Hong Kong was the final stop, but he still had plenty to see. He visited Victoria Park, fishing villages and Buddhist temples.

He went on a road trip to see the ‘road’ to Macau, the longest sea-crossing bridge in the world.

He went on site visits to a new airport terminal, a theatre and a highways tunnel under the bay.

“All these visits blew my mind,” Dylan said. “Particularly, being at the bottom of a 40m deep pit with the Hong Kong bay on the other side of some sheet piling!”

Indonesia

“Coming from a headphones-on-in-the-bus culture in the UK, it was so warming to receive unconditional hospitality and kindness from everyone we met,” writes Max Bhatia about his time in Indonesia.

He travelled with architecture firm CAUKIN Studio to build a guesthouse for a local community centre in Jakarta.

He got stuck into the build, learning from local skilled tradesmen and bonding with them over the hard work. Some days they were building in 35°C heat!

But the community made it all worth it.

Max says: “With the additional boost from lots of sports drinks from the local Indomart, and the 2000s club hits playing on the speakers, we all pulled through the long days onsite!”

Singapore

After a visit to Dubai and a couple of weeks building a school in Bali, Indonesia, Dylan Atkinson continued his tour in Singapore.

He met with the landscape architecture firm that designed the iconic Gardens of the Bay and learned how the project team blended engineering and nature.

A trip to Singapore wouldn’t be complete without visiting the top of Marina Bay Sands, or the Jewel Changi airport that has won 680 awards since opening.

“The experiences didn’t disappoint, and I gasped at seeing what can be achieved in our industry,” said Dylan.

Middle East

United Arab Emirates

When Dylan headed to Dubai with his QUEST Travel scholarship, he immersed himself in the world of digital technology.

He met an Autodesk representative to learn about software that’s enabling digital twins – virtual versions of physical buildings.

He also got to learn about some of the exciting projects across the Middle East, like a resort that’s being carved into the desert hills of Saudi Arabia!

Oceania

Fiji

Isabella Spicer’s time in the Vuadomo Village in Fiji taught her lessons she’ll carry for the rest of her life.

She spent eight weeks helping construct three timber buildings for a community-owned tourism development, and got involved in everything: foundations, timber joinery, roofing, cladding... you name it.

She embraced the ‘Fiji way’, picking up vernacular (local) design techniques and learning from how the Kaiviti (Fijians) adapt to the environment, with nothing going to waste.

“The warmth, openness, and sense of community in Vuadomo is something I’ll never forget,” Isabella said. “It’s a far cry from the often isolated, fast-paced lifestyle back in the UK.”