Emmanuel Winful
Engineering Administration
Engineering Health and Safety Manager

“Safe engineering is good engineering,” is more than a catchphrase to Emmanuel Winful. It’s the mindset that reshaped how Auburn Engineering approaches research.

“Striving for safe engineering doesn’t inhibit research progress,” said Winful, the college’s health and safety manager since 2018. “Safe engineering is finding ways to do things better and safer.”

Winful’s commitment to prevention began long before Auburn. Growing up in a Ghanaian mining town, he saw how unsafe practices led to injuries and unexplained illnesses. His experience sparked an interest in occupational safety and ultimately shaped his philosophy.

That perspective anchors an honored safety culture at Auburn Engineering, earning the 2024 Campus Safety, Health and Environmental Management Association Innovation Award and recognition as a National Safety Council Green Cross Award semifinalist — rare for an academic unit competing against major corporations. 

The foundation for this success? Relationships.

“It’s important to build trust with colleagues and let them know there might be hazards in the processes they perform and what can be done to improve them,” he said. “Safety is everyone’s responsibility, and we are cultivating and sustaining cutting-edge research under the umbrella of safety.”