What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

In an attempt to learn more about Engineering and becoming an Engineer, I would like to ask all the Engineers in this community this question:

What is(are) the most important engineering problem(s) we are going to face in the near future?

FIRST has done a tremendous job inspiring kids to become Engineers through the competition. But how about educating them with something that relates to the real world? How about telling us what kind of problems we will be facing when the next group of college students graduate and become Engineers? What is the most important engineering problem(s) we should expect to face in the next 10 years? 20 years? 50 years? 100 years?

I do realize that "most important" means different things to different people, so let's broaden the discussion up and extend its definition as wide as possible. I don't care whether it is the most expensive, the most difficult, the most beneficial, the most demanding, the most impossible, and so on, as long as it is big enough to make us go "Wow..." Just surprise me ;-).

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

Our greatest challenge is a alternative/substitute for oil and oil based products. Smart people have been telling us for years that oil is not a renewable resource and we have ignored the warnings. Look around at all the cars, plastics and polymers around you based on oil and you will see what a revolution there will be to replace oil. The industrial revolution will pale in comparison to what the world will go through when the well(s) runs dry. Everyone should pick up a copy of the August issue of National Geographic to read about alternative energy sources. If you want a long term job consider going into alternative energy companies that deal with solar and wind power. They will become hot areas very shortly.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

I agree with Al that alternative energy will be the next hot area. I would also like to include the production of clean drinking water. For most of the world there is not a reliable source of drinking water. As the human race expands and covers more of this world, there will be a need to convert local water sources to safe water sources.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

This isn't nearly as important as the issues posted above, but does plague many engineers...increasing processing speed, while decreasing power consumption in microprocessors.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

Al has my vote. Oil replacement.
And not just for the world of power generation.

I just want to highlight what he said...
Plastics are oil based. Look around you right now - how much plastic do you see?

By the way - I'm of the belief that the world will not run out of oil. As supply lowers, demand will increase, and cost will increase. So you might not run out of oil, but someday you'll have to pay $500 for a gallon of gasoline, or $75 for a plastic ball point pen. Someone will figure need to figure a way out of that...

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

Slightly off topic but, my opinion is based on a U.S perspective and Engineering in general.

I have a real concern that America is incapable of competing with foreign markets in goods and services. The cost of production in the US prohibits innovation. When pricing drives you into the global market, you take away most aspects of engineering opportunities as well. Over time that erodes a sector of capability and leaves us again looking elsewhere.

Not to make this a political matter but there are many reasons why we've come to this point. There are also many ways to change this situation. But I believe we've created a monster and it's only going to get much worse before it gets better. We cannot sustain an entirely service based economy for long. If FIRST succeeds in increasing the amount of interest and patronage of engineering in the U.S., that can definitely help matters. Although if the opportunities for them diminish as they come into an empty market, the purpose would be partly lost.

Until countries like China and India get a higher standard of living, and the people demand better social services etc. their production will not incur the cost of infrastructure. While here in the U.S. that snowball is rolling 100mph down a long hill. This may be more a matter for economists but it directly affects the life span of the American Engineer.

Solve that problem and then we can move on to the bigger ones, otherwise only the lawyers will be left to figure it all out ;)

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

Just to extend and add further comment on the need for a petroleum replacement, most people have no clue as to the depth that we as a world are dependent on oil.

Look at the obvious first, energy. Burning petroleum products to create energy not only depletes the already diminishing supplies, but is the single larges source of pollution on the planet (not that I'm a rabid environmentalist, just a realist). We need multiple replacement technologies for the energy we derive from petroleum based products. First, we need large scale, clean and efficient energy sources to generate electricity to power industry. Secondly, we need a "portable" replacement technology for all of our transportation needs (and I'm not just talking about cars. We have to include planes, trains and automobiles along with boats and everything else that we move from one place to another).

And then, we have to consider plastics. Just about all plastics come from petroleum, and just about everything we use has some plastic in it, or comes wrapped in plastic, or is made on an assembly line that has plastic in it.

Did you know that many medicines are petroleum based? Did you know that, with exception of water, petroleum based solvents are the most commonly used in all industry? Did you know that most agricultural fertilizers and pesticides are petroleum products? Do you get the point?

I agree with the earlier statement that the next major technological revolution will be focused on petroleum replacement technology, and this revolution will dwarf all past revolutions in its scope and impact.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

I think the most important challenges we will face will deal with survival - as a culture, nation, species, or even life on all of earth itself.

On any day we could detect a comet or asteroid heading our way, too big to stop or alter. The challenge then will be how do we survive the impact, or how do we relocate life to another planet - either Mars or in another solar system?

Or do we build a colony in space and wait till the earth can be inhabited again?

Things like oil and transportation will come and go - and the transisions will be gradual. We are not going to run out of oil overnight. It will slowly become more and more expensive, and humanity will adapt and improvise, like we always have.

But in the bigger sense, I dont think our most important challenges are engineering problems, they are social problems. Technology enables us to do what we want more efficently.

The real problem is what some people want. Death and destruction.

Somehow humanity needs to grow and mature past that.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

On that note (and off topic) it amazes me how much more gas is costing these days than plastic pens.

Most important engineering problem, (coming from the 100% non-engineering mind of Beth) is oil in terms of pertinence, it's a big deal right now. One that I would really like to see be solved is a way to travel fast enough to travel to other places in the universe before any given human dies. (and yes, I know that part of this has been discussed in Ken Wittleif's (sorry if that's spelled wrong) thread) I think that if we can converse with lifeforms of other planets that they may be able to provide us with solutions that they've come up with for problems that we have such as oil issues etc.

Once again, that came from the mind of a creative dreamer, not a sensible engineer.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

I agree with KenWittlief that it will be the social issues that present the most important engineering problems to future generations, case and point, snuppy.

Snuppy is the first cloned dog, which raises the question not of how far we can go, but how far we should go under certain circumstances. (Dogs are inherently more difficult to clone because their ovulation is influenced differently then most other mammals when the same drugs are used on them). I believe it to be fact that one day we will be able to clone humans, but when we get to that point, the question will be, should we?

My opinion is that scientific progress is never bad, but sometimes the applications can be, and as Ken said, it comes down to human motive, which is our greatest gift and our biggest stumbling block. Not that I'm completely against having an evil clone army to serve me ;) .

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

I'll toss my vote in for oil. It's bigger and more immediate than any piddling social problems. Deal with social problems after you've ensured an alternative supply for energy and food. Yes food. In addition to all the other petroleum based products listed above, did you know your cheap abundant food is petroleum based as well? The vast majority of fetrilizers are petro based, and most all food requires a good deal of fertilizer.

Really, though, the largest use of oil is for energy. Especially for transportation. Atleast 75% of oil goes into planes, trains, and automobiles, as it were. Come up with a cheap, efficient alternative for energy, and the oil supply will easily cover all other uses for several decades.

As for alternative energy sources, Solar Towers look promising.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

I agree with you that oil is a serious concern for engineers of the future (and present). However, I disagree with your classification of oil, energy, and food as separate from the social problems of the world.

Many of the worlds political (and therefore, social) problems stem from this country's overdependance on Middle Eastern oil. Many people from these nations are very angry and upset over the influence that the United States has over oil-producing states. The West's presence in the Middle East (due to oil) is certainly one of the factors that has angered and outraged those who commit acts of terror. There have been numerous attacks on Iraqi oil pipelines since the start of the Second Gulf War. *please, PLEASE don't take this comment in a way that will start a political flame war - the fact is, our presence in the Middle East HAS created socio-economic problems surrounding the issue of oil production, and this is hard to deny, coming from BOTH sides of the political spectrum)*

Also, the issue of food is a very pressing social problem. Socio-political factors are most responsible for world hunger. In addition to new food-producing technology, many social changes must be implemented before the problem of world hunger can be solved.

Many of humanity's technological needs stem from it's social problems. For example, global warming IS a social problem, considering that it will have an incredible impact upon world health and food production - all social issues. We as a society must make SOCIAL changes in order to deal with the problem of global warming, such as improving our energy conservation habits.

Some other examples of socially-driven technological innovations are many of the inventions of Dean Kamen. His invention of a wheelchair that can climb effortlessly, as well as raise a person up to their normal height - was created to deal with a social issue. Same goes for his portable dialysis machine and his water purification system. All of those inventions solve a social problem of some sort - and are by no means "piddling".

I believe that the most important engineering problem(s) ARE in fact those that deal with socio-economic issues. What is the purpose of engineering, if not to make humanity's overall quality of life better?

-- Jaine

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

The biggest problem we're going to have? People.

The world's population is somewhere around 6.5 million right now; in ten years, according to a quick and unscientific measurement, we could very well have another million on top of that.

Finding ways to provide food and water, to create shelter, to have medical care, to transport people and goods, and to keep our world and all of its inhabitants alive and in one piece? It's going to take a lot of work from all kinds of disciplines to solve some of the problems that come with more people.

Engineers are going to be key in solving some of these problems, transportation and housing being two of them.

It's a broad answer, yes, but why not focus on everything instead of just one piece of the puzzle? :)

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

Im sure IMDwalrus meant billion - but it leads right into a thought I was just having about the importance of our social structure as a species.

70 years from now almost eveyone who is alive today will be dead

there are 6.5 billion people alive today

there doesnt have to be 6.5 billion or more people in the world 70 years from now - its totally a social problem

if only 1 out of 500 couples reproduced, and only had one child each, then 70 years from now there actually would be only 6.5 million people on the entire planet

think about that for a while

what oil problem?

what food problem?

what housing problem?

what clean air / water / environment problem?

its not our technology that is causing us grief,
and its not a lack of advanced technology,

its us!

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

Just for the record, on this planet there is enough space and food for everyone, the problem lies in those who have what is needed and don't share what they have.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

there is enough space and room for people to survive (at this point), but there are not enough resources for every person on the planet to have a 4 bedroom house, 2 cars, 4 computers, 5 TVs, all the food they can eat...

there are only so many acres of land that can be farmed. Once the population gets above 1 person per acre, or 2 people per acre of farmland, people will starve.

but why do we need to let our population grow that large? what benefit is there to having 6 billion, or 10 billion people, instead of only 1 billion, or 100 million...?

I cant see any benefit to having the surface of the earth covered with humans.

Maybe this is part of the engineering question - how can we prosper without the need for a constantly increasing population?

What science and technology advancements would allow us to turn the size of our population back, way back? To allow our standard of living to continue to improve, with less and less people?

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

The first one is hardest to deal with. We live in an economy that demands ever increasing levels of production to stay "healthy". If we all just consume at the same rate we are now for the next ten years, our economy would collapse, because it depends on growth to work. Fixing that is going to be a severe shock to the system.

The second one is easier. As people's standard of living rises, the number of children they have decreases. In some countries today, they are staying afloat population-wise through immigration, not reproduction. Italy is an example as I recall, but that was in the media so I'm not sure how accurate it is.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

To some extent all engineering "... elevates the standards of living and adds to the comforts of life" (see Herbert Hoover)

My list of major engineering challenges in the coming years:

1. Developing alternative and more efficient energy production
2. Cleaning up our environment and keeping it clean.
3. Improving health care (Drugs, treatments, medical devices, etc)
4. Improving availability of nutritious food and clean water throughout the world.
5. Safer, more efficient transportation systems.

To attack these issues engineers in every field will need to focus on several things in everything they do:

1. Improving efficiency to lower energy demand.
2. Designs using recyclable/reusable materials.
3. Less polluting mining, manufacturing, transportation, and products.
4. Reducing obsolescence/increasing design life of products (Ever notice how few things we buy are designed to last more than 5-10 years?)
5. Consider quality and safety in the design of all products and processes.

I'm sure there others, but the point is that the world needs engineers to make the right choices, rather than the expedient, easier, or initially cheaper way. Even if we are not designing a fusion reactor or water purification device, we are expected to not add to these problems and do what we can to help solve them.

To do this, the engineering student should strive to get a solid, broad engineering education, rather just learning how to hack some code in a particular language or squeak by doing the minimum required for a degree.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

Very interesting answers, all. I agree that oil is probably critical at this point and in light of Hurricane Katrina, strengthening the infrastructure of levies and dams across hurricane-prone states would be crucial.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

I think the most important issue currently is within us. I'm talking about our genetics. Normally in the wild animals with physical or mental disabilities die off but since we have removed much of the limiting factors of our species undesirable genetic material. One very apparent aspect is obesity. I have a friend who eats very healthily and exercises but can't drop his weight below 200 pounds. He is not the only person i know who suffers from this problem. This is why i think that their should be a stress on genetic research. I hear lots of people talk about their fear of super humans but i think that without genetic research we end up crippling our selves. I still agree that research should be strictly monitored to avoid abuse though.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

this will definately become an issue now.

Part of the problem is building flimsy structures on sand. We knew better than this even 2000 years ago

and part of it is simply telling people "this area is below sea level, you CANT build anything here"

you cant out-engineer nature, or gravity!

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

It's called eugenics. Google it and look it up on Wiki. It's been historically unpopular because it would pretty much end up treating people as a collection of desirable and undesirable traits. More or less slapping a great big number on your forehead rating you for all of time and telling you how worthy you are of having kids.

See also Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and the movie Gattaca.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

NO NO thats not what i mean at all! :ahh: What im talking about is not stopping people from breeding but fixing genetic problems they might pass on to their children.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

this brings up an interesting aspect of engineering. Take genetic engineering for example. The obvious approach is to take on things that everyone agrees are defects.

Once you've done that, the line between defect and preference becomes blurred. In general, engineers solve problems and make things (systems) better. Once you have a system perfected, or a problem solved, the engineers are done.

And for any given problem there is a "best solution" or best answer. Take cars for example. For a two passenger car there is an ideal aerodynamic shape - the one shape that will give you the lowest wind resistance and the best stability at your target top speed.

Ok - so if all car manufacturers get their heads around this, then one day all two passenger cars will have exactly the same shape, and all 5 passenger cars will have exactly the same shape

to use any other shape would be an error - and engineers do their best to eliminate errors.

Given enough time and free reign, genetic engineering would end up in the same place: there would be one ideal (perfect) human genome. If you start assigning people a task or career before they are born, then there will be one ideal genome for each career or job. In the end lots of people would be exactly the same.

But heres the weird part. Many of the things we value as humans arise out of error conditions. Our heros are doctors and firemen and the guy who pulls you off the roof of your flooded house.

most of the things we do for entertainment and hobbies are based on error conditions. Driving a car at 65mph on a straight and level highway with the windows closed and the A/C set at 71º is downright boring. Driving a convertable down a winding road up and down hills at 65mph is a blast.

in fact, we create arbitrary error conditions for sport. We put a football at one end of the field and tell one team it needs to be at the other end if you want to win.

While we are in the middle - while we are half way to perfection, being an engineer and solving these problems, these error conditions is a very rewarding career. But once we get 'there', once everything is perfect, I think we will be bored to tears

and if we are gentically engineered, we will be bored with each other as well.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

Your post needs to be more carefully worded. When i first read it i thought you were saying genetic defects keep life interesting! :rolleyes: Im sure your talking more along the lines of if we were all the same. When i talk about genetic defects i mean sickle cell anemia, down syndrome, blindness. Also the car example brings up another issue. Just because its the best engineering design for a task is it really the best design for a task. I think most of us know that a while back they designed a car that was nearly indestructable. The problem: after people bought one they would never need a new car! same with lightbulbs. And this also applies to FIRST.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

I think the biggest engineering problem right now is how to make those levees in New Orleans beefier and more structurally sound. Civil engineering at its finest. and this isnt some easy fix either....they first must plug up all the holes, divert the water...then rebuild all of them to be able to withstand another cat4 or cat5 hurricane. this will take YEARS, i read somewhere that the governent estimates this (relating to all of New Orleans) to take almost up to 10 if they are lucky. Seriously, graduate, and start making our country safer.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

I dont mean interesting in a glib sort of way. The error conditions in our lives, the things that are not perfect, those things are very much a part of what makes us human

and they bring out the apects of human existance that we cherish the most. Anyone who has ever had a serious medical condition will have a great deal of love and respect for the medical professionals who treated and assisted them. If humans are perfected some day, we wont have doctors anymore.

Another way of looking at this: its been said to be an artist you need to suffer. You must get down to the core of existance to be able to communcate on a meaningfull level.

I never really bought into that yin-yang stuff, that good and bad are in balance. But it is true, if you've never gone for a day or two without food, you really dont know what a good meal is.

Im not trying to present this from a moral perspective. Im only relating the nature of our human existance. The things that have the most meaning to us seem to arise from error conditions that, if we could, we would eliminate.

Where does that leave us?

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

Not only that. The problem with the pipelines is that power shut down. Think back to when half of the east coast had no power because of the powerplant that failed. We need a more reliable design for almost everything. Their is a countless number of things that can hamstring the country if they failed!

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

More reliable designs exist for just about everything you can think of, really. Atleast everything that's currently out there. The problem is and always will be expense. Engineers, politicians, etc. have to decide how much protection is worth, vs. how much it will cost. The power outage could have been prevented via a massive upgrade and re-organization of the national power grid, but that would also have been incredibly expensive. Power companies are businesses too, ya know.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

Ive been through a couple ice storms in upstate NY over the last 12 years or so. Our power was out for a few days one time, about the week the other. Its really not a major problem, its easy to plan for and to ride out. If you have a kerosene heater you can keep your pipes from freezing (but your house wont be warm)

and if you have a few gas cans you can charge up a car battery in about 1/2 hour with your car (jumper cables) and it will power 12 volt lamps and portable TVs and stuff for a couple days

but the thing that boggles the mind is: its cheaper to run the power lines on poles, and replace thousands of miles of them every 7 to 10 years, than it is to run them all underground.

I think in general humans live in denial to some extent. We pretend things like hurricanes and earth quakes, tornados and floods and ice storms and blizzards dont happen, at least they wont happen to us, when we build our homes and plan out communities. Larger commercial buildings are designed to withstand most of these things, but our houses are not.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

Think of what would happen if the internet failed. No ChiefDelphi. :shivers:

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

That's a fair statement for todays conditions, but not going forward. Already our farmland is being converted from food sources to non-food product sources. Soy beans to diesel fuel, corn being used to make plastics . . . our main farmlands will become a battleground between producing enough food for a growing population and satisfying our desire to have unlimited cheap material resources.

The major engineering challenges for the future will be related to agriculture -- genetic engineering to squeeze greater yields per acre, hydrologic engineering to allow us to crop currently non-arable land, and bioengineering to create microorganisms that will turn any marginal bioresidue into useful product.

It doesn't matter when the price of oil becomes "too" high, it'll still take 3 generations before the population weans itself off the excess energy we think we need.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

getting as much food per acre of land is still a dead end path, if the world population continues to increase.

If we scaled the population back, then none of these things you mentioned would be necessary.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

Theoretically you have a point; it just doesn't work in practice. Even in dictated societies where population control has been tried, they only succeeded in slowing growth down, never actually stopping it.

You argument is similar to the old Zero Population Growth movement (something like 2.4 children per family) which would sustain the current world population numbers. But what about the "immortality dreams" of the future (i.e., nano-mechanisms that can enter cells and turn back the aging process). Right now, an expected lifespan is about 3 to 3.5 generations long and that is increasing. What happens when we increase that lifespan to 6 or more generations through improved medical technology? At some point the ZPG number will drop below 1.0 due to life expectancy itself. Unless something catestrophic happens (war or disease) the increase will continue.

Short term, this world needs to focus on renewable resources, including products from our farmlands, but this won't stop or control our population growth. The only long term answer to controlling the population on earth (that isn't inhumane) is to access new resources by populating other planets.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

I hate to continue the thread down a side path, but...

I agree with Ken that population growth is going to be a big problem in the future. In many ways, it already is becoming a problem.

One problem that I see quite often is society's lack of acceptance of people that choose to not have children. Since my wife and I fall into this category, I have had to endure everyone's opinion on this (mostly negative). The one that gets me is that we are "selfish" for our choice. Since I agree with Ken's point about overpopulation, I hardly think that our choice is "selfish". In a lot of ways it's the opposite.

Anyway, I just want to give another "heads up" to people to have an open mind about other people's choices, and to not continue to spout old-fashioned beliefs without first thinking about them.

(As a side note, I support everyone else's choice to have kids. It just irks me when people think that what they choose to do is the "right way" to do things.)

Back to the thread:

I think the most important engineering problem of our future is to find a replacement for fossil fuels. Fossil fuel is used not only to fuel our vehicles, but also to generate electricity, heat our houses, run manufacturing plants, and also make things like plastics, medicines, and many other materials. It's amazing how much of our current lives depend on fossil fuels. The computer that you're using to read this thread depends heavily on polymers (plastics and rubber) that are made from petroleum.

The problem is that there still isn't a great substitute. Some reports state that corn-based fuels (such as ethanol) actually require more energy to produce them than they contain - that hardly makes it a sustainable energy source.

I really don't know what the answer is, but I hope that the answer is found before mass chaos sets in as the supplies are depleted. I recently read an article that estimates that the world's supply of oil will run out in about 20 years. That's pretty scary.

Re: What is the most important engineering problem of our future?
 

maybe technology could be used to address the population increase?

In the recent past couples had children to help with the farm or family business, and to insure that someone will be there to provide for their needs when they are old.

If a couple has no children who will be there for them when they need to be taken care of? Can technology address this?

Another reason why people have children is they want their ideas and beliefs to carry on after their death. We want our accomplishments to be remembered, and we want to be a part of molding future generations, as a parent, grandparent, etc.

What if a persons characteristics could be captured and emulated, by a computer generated character for example? I'm thinking along the lines of those star trek episodes where famous people from the past are re-created in the holodeck, for educational purposes. If a persons character and essence could be captured by a computer generated character, or even by a life-like robotic humanoid form, then in a sense the qualities and characteristics that we develop during our lives could live on after we die

and thereby to some extent, lessen the need to have children who will carry on after us?