• Question: What do you think is going to become the biggest challenge for engineers in the future?

    Asked by Kitty to Matthew, Neil, Paula, Pete, Philippa on 9 Mar 2015. This question was also asked by Erin.H0wells.
    • Photo: Neil Taylor

      Neil Taylor answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      Hi !

      Great question! I think that the biggest challenge that will face engineers in the future is without doubt going to be in 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 also include planning for them to be low-carbon and able to withstand natural disasters (such as drought and flood), for example.

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

    • Photo: Philippa Jefferis

      Philippa Jefferis answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      I think climate change is already starting to cause some big challenges, especially for people who live in developing countries and do not have access to resilient infrastructure like flood defences and earthquake resistant buildings. Climate change will intensify a number of challenges we already face as engineers and make us have to become much more creative in how we design solutions to problems such as flooding.

    • Photo: Pete Symons

      Pete Symons answered on 11 Mar 2015:

      Hi Kitty,

      No doubt the energy issue will be a real issue in the future to try and resolve but I wont repeat what the guys have said below. Another issue I think that might be a real issue related to engineering is the rise in the use of 3D printers. The cheaper the technology gets the more people will use the technology and how do you control it.

      People have already made a gun with a 3D printer, which is worrying if you can’t control it. Will 3D printed components make it onto our aircraft/cars? are they approved and safe? then what the environment 3D printing might make things ever more disposable and with limited landfill space what are the implications of everybody just printing what ever they want then when it breaks making another one.

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