• Question: how can your aerospace technologies be used to make the world a better place rather than for rich people to profit from?

    Asked by Tom H to Michael, Kirstin, John, Chris, Agata on 10 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Michael Carley

      Michael Carley answered on 10 Jun 2016:

      I hope that reducing aircraft noise would make the world a healthier place to live, but realistically I also know that if aircraft are quieter it will be easier to have more of them, which will damage the planet through global warming. Those aeroplanes will make profit for some rich companies, but they also benefit people who get to travel in them.

      Any technology we work on can be used to make the world a better place, or to make it worse (aeroplanes can drop aid, or drop bombs). One of the things an engineer has to think about is what their work is used for, and we have to be honest with ourselves about it.

      Personally, I don’t do work for weapons manufacturers, but I do know that some of the work I have done could be used by them (reducing aircraft noise is one part of stealth technology, for example). Every engineer has to make their own decision about what they are comfortable with.

    • Photo: John Allport

      John Allport answered on 12 Jun 2016:

      I use the technologies that I work with in a variety of ways, and am always looking for ways to make the world a better place. as an example, I am currently working on a project to take the thermodynamic cycles used in aircraft powerplant cooling to develop a low cost irrigation pump for use in the poor regions of Africa. There are many places where technologies which have been developed for commercial purposes have then been repurposed to benefit others – remote access to medical help in Africa via videoconferencing is one recent example.

    • Photo: Agata Suwala

      Agata Suwala answered on 13 Jun 2016:

      I think we all profit from developments in aerospace technologies. If you think about it it takes 100’s if not 1000’s of people from many countries to built a plane. Any developments make these peoples jobs easier and most importantly safer.
      Then you have the supply chain, loads of SMEs(small to medium enterprises, generally less than 250 people) are suppliers to big companies like Airbus of Boeing. Again any developments mean more work for them.
      When you think about number of people that fly on planes everyday, they profit from the technology, their journey is safer because of things engineers developed.
      There is a large ouch from EU to lower the emissions from air planes, which in the long term will benefit us all.

    • Photo: Chris Hackett

      Chris Hackett answered on 16 Jun 2016:

      technology eventually filters down to everyone. mobile phones were just a device for the rich at one point and cars too. It takes engineering to make things cheaper and more accessible.

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