• Question: How is engineering going to effect the future?

    Asked by 464sftb46 to Matthew, Neil, Paula, Pete, Philippa on 16 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Neil Taylor

      Neil Taylor answered on 16 Mar 2015:

      Hi 464stfb46!

      Great question!

      I think there is scope for some really awesome things to happen in the future! These include in robotics (making really intelligent robots to do things like disarm bombs), and biomedical engineering (making limbs that that are hyper-realistic). But I think that the biggest challenge that will face engineers in the future is going to be generating and conserving energy.

      The population of the world is still increasing, and energy demand is set to rise. In the future, we will need to rely on an energy mix that has less fossil fuels and more of (probably) renewable and nuclear power.

      We will not only need engineers with the skills to work in these areas of energy, but also engineers to work in areas that focus on efficiency. I think one of the most exciting areas of future engineering is that around “future proofing” cities. That is, when we are building cities, or making existing cities larger, we should think about how the can make them as energy-efficient as possible so that we can save energy. This will include planning for them to be low-carbon and able to withstand natural disasters (such as drought and flood).

      On thing’s for sure -the 21st Century will be an exciting and challenging time to be an engineer!

      Hope this helps!

    • Photo: Philippa Jefferis

      Philippa Jefferis answered on 16 Mar 2015:

      I think it is fair to say that engineers and engineering will have a big impact on the future. There are some big challenges facing us, so engineers will be critical in helping us adapt to the changes we need to make in order to survive.

      However it is not all doom and gloom. I think the fact that computers can be so very small now means we can embed them in so much and utilise the “Internet of things”. We can be much more clever with our engineering when we embed technology into the other aspects of engineering. For me personally, I look forward to getting emails from bridges telling me they need repair!

    • Photo: Pete Symons

      Pete Symons answered on 16 Mar 2015:

      Hi 464,

      Who knows what the future holds, but you can be darn sure that engineers will have a lot to say in the way we either sustain life on this planet, or try to live on another planet in millions of years to come!

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