Is Tech the Answer to Challenges in the Engineering Industry?
Engineers solve the world’s problems, can technology give them the support they need?
Engineers are responsible for the solutions to many of life’s biggest challenges, and it’s a safe guess they’ll continue to do so. From the earliest days of incorporating science, technology, and art to fully comprehend our solar system, to modern-day advances in hydrotechnology bringing clean water to third world countries, engineering isn’t a topic to be taken lightly. But what technologies are available today to help ease the burden on engineers? Whether they’re using online forms to streamline data capture, or building better predictive analytics models, engineers utilize a multitude of technological advances to streamline their work.
Engineering is a complex subject, not just because it seeks unique and cutting edge solutions, but because engineering applies to nearly every aspect of our daily lives. Engineering is typically broken into five categories: civil, chemical, electrical, industrial, and mechanical. Within each of those categories there are a plethora of subcategories and specialities, and some universities and institutions even list out as many as 20 different engineering disciplines. With that much ground to cover, engineers rely heavily on technology to meet the demands of the challenges they face.
What are the Biggest Challenges Facing Modern Engineers?
Modern engineers aren’t just facing the challenges of understanding our world, they have the burden of improving the way we live our lives. In many cases, they’re tasked with finding ways to create sustainable living solutions for a growing global population. With finite resources available to meet these growing demands, this is no small feat.
Climate Change
Climate change, while still being studied to understand its full impacts and reach, is the number one issue facing engineers. It affects everything from weather patterns to icebergs, sea levels and wildfires. Though it remains to be seen how far and wide the effects of climate change will affect daily lives of those around the world, there are already measurable impacts on native flora and fauna. Engineers have the challenge of finding ways to mitigate these impacts, including managing the nitrogen cycle and better ways to sequester and offset carbon emissions.
“We’ve all enjoyed improvement of quality of life and other benefits from burning fossil fuels, though. The question is what do we do about it? I think from an engineering point of view, we have to both mitigate climate change — reduce the rate of global temperature rise — and adapt to it.”
Developing Third World Countries
Engineers have a unique opportunity to improve the quality of life in underdeveloped countries. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs has found that the poorest countries are the ones with the highest population growth, and therefore are more susceptible to issues like access to food and water than first-world countries. Civil and environmental engineers are focusing on things like improved sanitation, better access to safe drinking water, and improved transportation and infrastructure, but there’s still plenty of progress to be made.
Finding Alternative Energy Sources
Much in line with climate change, the challenge to find cleaner, more sustainable energy sources remains a top priority for engineers. Due to the limited availability of fossil fuels, the need to find energy sources that can exist long after fossil fuels have disappeared is pressing. The president of the National Academy of Engineering, John Anderson, commented how powerful these engineering advancements can be. Only 30 years ago solar power was expensive and cumbersome but is becoming more accessible than ever. Solar power is only one avenue, however, and finding new and unique ways to power our daily lives continues to be a priority.
Making STEM More Appealing to Younger, Diverse Generations
One of the biggest challenges facing engineers today is a less tangible one. Encouraging diverse populations, and younger generations, to pursue careers in STEM is a difficult task. To better solve the problems of tomorrow, a diverse group of perspectives and solutions will be required. But currently, there is very little diversity in many engineering fields. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, pay gaps, degree completions, and even filled positions see large discrepancies between genders and ethnicities within all STEM fields. Finding ways to encourage future and diverse populations to be a part of the engineering solution will take time, and systemic change throughout all of STEM culture.
“The long-term outlook for diversity in the STEM workforce is closely tied to representation in the STEM educational system, particularly across the nation’s colleges and universities. STEM workers are about twice as likely as other workers to have earned a bachelor’s degree or more education (67% vs. 34%) and roughly three-quarters of these workers hold a degree in a STEM field.”
How Is Technology Supporting These Endeavors?
Knowing the challenges you’re facing is only half the battle. Engineers have plenty of difficulties and problems to solve, but what options are there for them to get the support they need? Technology offers critical support to solving these issues and continues to be closely tied to engineering as a whole. The following are just a few ways that technology is key to building better engineering solutions.
Making Communication More Accessible
Whether it’s coordinating land survey details between teams in underdeveloped areas or transferring work order forms for supplies and materials, communication is key for engineers. With the implementation of new technologies that support better communication, like mobile WiFi hot spots and satellite phones, this communication can only improve. Engineers tend to find the best solutions through collaboration, and without the ability to cross-reference data, share analytics and findings, or even identify new problems, it’s difficult to solve anything.
Creating a Database of Proven Examples
One of the greatest assets that engineers can have is data. Big data, massive amounts of information that can be systematically analyzed to identify trends and patterns, can help speed up testing processes for any challenges. While in line with communication, building a globally-accessible database of scientific findings gives more resources to every engineer. The data available can give the support of an entire research team to a single engineer working even in a remote location. While many groups and engineering organizations are already working to compile and make this data available to others, pursuing more open and accessible databases can only improve the work of engineers, and provide more well-rounded visibility into others’ findings.
Leveraging Tech Advances for Better Solutions
It’s no secret that technology holds the key to solving many unique problems, but for engineers especially, technology provides new ways to do their work. For example, the technology available to purify water to a safe drinking level has continued to improve over time. By leveraging this technology, engineers have built a bicycle water purification system, which runs without requiring power or batteries. In one hour, it can potentially filter enough water for 150 people and can serve rural and underdeveloped communities that otherwise wouldn’t have water access. Engineers are able to take existing technologies and build upon them to solve many of these biggest challenges.
If engineers are the carpenters to build solutions for a growing population, then technology remains the trusted toolbox at their side.
About GoFormz
GoFormz is a digital forms solution that helps bring your data into a single, actionable place. We believe that everyone should be able to fill out their forms online and deliver products and services that redefine how people and businesses collect and process information. Whether your team needs forms for construction, or your engineers need better machinery tracking forms, GoFormz has your solution. Complete with an open API and multiple native integrations, you can gather data like never before, and use it to streamline your entire business.
