kevin p. siu musings on technology, politics, and the world

Sustainable Engineering

This piece was written as a reflection for the ESC202 Praxis IV course.

In modern society, prices are going down, and sizes are going up. This is in part due to economic pressure; in part due to consumer culture; but it is largely also due to the technological advancements from engineers and scientists.

Engineers are largely the ones responsible for driving prices down. Without their technological innovations, it would not be economically feasible to mass produce ans slash prices. The engineering profession, in fact, prides itself on making better and better things at the lowest possible cost. Engineers today work tirelessly to satisfy these consumer demands for better and cheaper goods.

Mass production, automation, artificial materials, and many more technologies of the post-industrial age are all engineering achievements. Engineers, who are the first to create new technologies, are also the first to find out the side effects. To promote a new technology without considering its side-effects would be morally irresponsible for anyone, especially engineers who are taught to hold public safety above all else.

While it is the moral obligation for everybody to look out for the well-being of our home - the Earth - it is the engineers who have the know-how and the ability to really do it. Bureaucrats and politicians, who do not have the technical background that engineers do, can only see the immediate effects of new developments and not the theoretical long-term consequences.

Ideally, engineers should be able to refuse morally irresponsible jobs. It is everyone's duty to protect the Earth - because we all share the same fate in the end. Engineers who have the power to change the world with technology should be able to do so with pride.