• Question: What do you think is going to become the biggest challenge for engineers in the future?

    Asked by zoha to Ant, Dan, Matt, Mike, Steph on 16 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Mike Salter

      Mike Salter answered on 15 Mar 2012:

      I beleive solving the energy crisis is one of the most important issues facing the world. So much of society is dependent on it, but the methods we currently use to generate energy won’t last forever, and renewable energy can’t yet meet our needs.

      Engineers will play a big role in developing renewable energy as there are lots of problems. What happens when the wind stops? Or the sun goes behind a cloud? What happens when everyone suddenly wants lots of electricity at the same time?

    • Photo: Matt Maddock

      Matt Maddock answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Tough question.

      In some ways, whatever’s being worked on at the moment is always the toughest problem there is to solve – because all the easier ones have been answered!

      …but I know what you mean 🙂

      Sorting the energy problem is going to be a biggie for some time to come – and it’s not only a big problem, but it’s one we HAVE to solve, too.

      But if you look far enough into the future, well, I like to think that we humans are going to try to leave Earth and go exploring – it’s in our nature, after all! The challenges of getting safely to other planets, maybe one day even other solar-systems, are going to be enormous and exciting! I doubt it’ll happen during my life time, but perhaps if you work hard, you can be involved with setting up the first colony on Mars!

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