Introduction to Mechanical Engineering

Engineering’s contribution to
the Sustainable Development
Goals

Name: Sherwin Aron Smith

Date: 22-11-2022
Abstract:
Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines or structures.
Engineering doesn’t have a specific field to work, it can be established in every field from
digital to medical fields. By 2012 the United Nations came up with a solution to all the
problems faced by humanity by introducing a set of goals which are predicted to be
achieved by 2030. Engineering being the basement of any change to the world plays a very
important role in ensuring that these goals are fulfilled. There are lot of companies and
organisations coming up with engineering solutions, innovations, and ideas to support the
goals which are being adopted by the United Nations to reach their goals. By these
innovations we are halfway to reaching our goals by eliminating the digital divide,
inaccessibility with serves as the basis of most of the problems.
Introduction:
On the year 2012 United Nations conducted a conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to find a
solution for the environmental, political, and economic problems faced by all of humanity.
After an intense brainstorming session with the representatives from 193 countries the
United Nations finally came up with a solution. The solution was a set of 17 goals called the
Sustainable Development Goals replacing its predecessor “Millennium Development Goals”.
The Sustainable Development Goals were specially designed to tackle extreme poverty,
reduce inequality, and protect the planet by the end of 2030. United Nations is looking for
ideas and innovations that contribute and fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals.

The only occupation in the world that involves innovation in order to solve a problem is
engineering. Almost every engineer dedicates their lives to contribute something to the
society. Today about 9.2% of the population around the world are suffering due to extreme
poverty with only an income of $1.90 per day. About 2.9 billion of the population of the
world are suffering from digital divide. Digital divide is the unequal access to digital
technology to the population. Having a digital divide within the population itself can cause a
huge impact on the population. Digital divide can indirectly lead to a decrease in life
expectancy due to the lack of advanced health screening techniques, a declined economic
growth, lack of access to clean energy and poor infrastructure. Engineering plays a major
role in mitigating these risks and achieving the sustainable development goals. Engineering
can cause a positive impact in achieving the sustainable development goals such as good
health and well-being, quality education, affordable and clean energy, industry, innovation
and infrastructure, and sustainable cities and communities. This report will go through the
ways in which engineering can contribute towards the fulfilment of the Sustainable
Development Goals.
1. Engineering and SDG’s:

1. Goal 3 (Good health and well-being):

Engineering solutions focusing on the improvement of health care are in action with the sole
purpose of bringing healthcare to the places where such infrastructures are not available or
accessible. Advances in health care systems are being developed and taken to rural places
with poor accessibility to make it available for the people who are not aware of the
advancements. Many engineering start-up companies and charities including the World
Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO) have taken initiative by installing solar
panels to provide electricity to public hospitals which do not have proper access to
electricity. And also, the installation of rain harvesting systems to provide water for
handwashing and medical uses in the hospitals. Engineering solutions are already playing a
major part in ensuring the good health and well-being of the people.

2. Goal 4 (Quality Education):

The United Nations implies that “Inclusivity and equitability are the foundations to be
upheld in quality education and not a greater literacy rate”. By this they mean that a quality
education is only attained when the education exhibits equity and provides equal access and
opportunities to people who would otherwise be marginalised. In order to fulfil the equal
access in education is where engineering solutions come in. The World Federation of
Engineering Organisation also implements projects such as improving the education
standards to meet the future needs of society. Engineering had already solved the problem
of practical education using the concept of virtual reality. And in order to make this
technology advancements available and accessible to all parts of the world, internet
connections are being established to the rural areas. The COVID pandemic had been a very
convincing test to show how important engineering is in receiving a quality education.

3. Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy):

The concept of energy itself is a pure concept of engineering. For every single work we do in
our daily lives we directly or indirectly require energy. But in today’s world most of the
energy is extracted from non-renewable means. Around 80% of todays energy extracted is
from fossil fuels. After a lot of protests about climate change and the determination to make
a change by the United Nations a lot of engineering start-ups are focusing on harvesting
clean energy all the way from power plants to even the rooftops of our homes. Over the
years the cost of harvesting clean energy such as solar and wind have significantly reduced
to a completely affordable state that we can buy a clean energy harvesting system and fix it
on our homes.
 4. Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure):
Engineering solution has been the base of making work in industries easier and improving
infrastructure. Today the introduction of Internet of Things which is a solution for a simple
problem has had an immense effect in the activities and functions of an industry. Perhaps
the introduction of IoT has allowed us to get the best yield out of any machine we use in an
industry. The introduction of 3d printing have again made a significant impact in making
industrial works faster and easier. But of course, engineers are still finding a way to make 3d
printing more advanced than it already is. The designing of machines itself is the best
contribution that engineering has given to every industry around the world. Innovation is a
part of the everyday life of an engineer. Innovating is the basis of the improving
infrastructures around the world. The improved infrastructure of an area is what promotes
it from a town to a city or a village to a town. Of course, engineering is everything you see
around you. The work of engineers has had a very positive impact on the population that by
2019 around 95 percent of the world had a perfect access to 2G network.

5. Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities):

In order to make an area sustainable the housing and the environment must affordable and
completely pollution free. Engineering Start-ups are now focusing on finding a way to create
a sustainable transport. Now with the booming concept of electric cars made by flagship
enterprises I could say that we are halfway there. When making a sustainable environment
one must also look at ways to mitigate damage caused to sustainable environment due to
natural disasters. To make sure that is possible the work again lies in the hands of civil
engineers to make string and withstanding buildings and infrastructures.
2. The WFEO and its achievements:
The World Federation of Engineering Organization is an international non-governmental
organisation that represents the engineering profession. It was founded in 1968 under
auspices of the UNESCO, to represent 100 nations and 30 million engineers. WFEO plays a
very significant role when it comes to fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals of the
United Nations. In 2018 the WFEO strategized a plan and came up with an impressive action
plan. The plans strategized were:

 Address the need for more engineers

 Ensure appropriate standards in engineering education
 Ensure appropriate pathways for professional development
 Build Capacity for the development of education systems
 Support multilateral mutual recognition
 Develop strong relationships with the government and policy makers
 Liaise with government
 Establish international projects to advance sustainable development for engineering
 Report on Progress
This action plan has a notable impact on the way to achieving the SDG’s. WFEO has now
extended its branches internationally to every corner of the world. They have started
collaborating with World Council of Civil Engineers. The branches of WFEO in all continents
have helped spread awareness and are gradually fulfilling their action plan. WFEO had
specially given more attention to gender inequality, quality education, water and sanitation,
industry and innovation, and sustainable cities and communities in the SDG’s.
Conclusions:
In my opinion the ambition of achieving all the Sustainable Development Goals within the
year 2030 cannot be possible without engineering playing a major role. The engineering
capacity of a country has a direct link with economic growth of a country which is why for
every advancement our world goes through engineering has a direct link on it as well. The
United Nations had already realised this fact and are collaborating with World Federation of
Engineering Organisation (WFEO). The WFEO is actively invested in the fulfilment of the
SDGs through multiple actions undertaken by their members and Standing Technical
Committee’s since several years. In fact, the WFEO had fabricated a plan to execute this
process called the WFEO Engineering 2030 Plan. The objective with which the SDG’s were
bought into place was specially to end extreme poverty, reduce inequality and protect the
planet by 2030. And with the initiatives taken by the WFEO and engineering start-ups I think
this is completely achievable. In my views I could say that we have already reached around
50% of achieving these goals. Which is why engineering is the most crucial contribution
towards the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals.
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