EUP 222

THE ENGINEER IN SOCIETY

Dr. Sharifah Akmam Syed Zakaria

Course Manager
School of Civil Engineering
Email: akmam@usm.my
 Lessons from
Situations in Real
Engineering World
 Lessons from Situations in Real
Engineering World

Learning Outcomes: Understanding on

1. The Global Engineering Challenges:
4th Industrial Revolution
2. Project Scope with Sustainable
Solutions : Engineers and Sustainable
Development Goals (United Nations)
 Lessons from Situations in Real
Engineering World

Learning Outcome 1:
Understanding on The Global
Engineering Challenges:
4th Industrial Revolution
The 4th Industrial Revolution We l e a d

• What is 4th Industrial Revolution?

• When is the duration? (Industrial Evolution)
• Who are involved? (Building Blocks of Industry
4.0)
• Why Industry 4.0 happened? (Potential
Implications)
• How to manage Industry 4.0? (Impact of
Industry 4.0)
 Lessons from Situations in Real
Engineering World

Learning Outcome 2:
Understanding on Project Scope with
Sustainable Solutions :
Engineers and Sustainable Development
Goals (United Nations)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
We l e a d

• What are SDGs? (Introduction)

• When is the duration? (SDGs Period)
• Who are involved? (Role of Engineers in SDGs)
• Why SDGs are required? (Importance of SDGs)
• How to manage SDGs? (Impact of SDGs)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
We l e a d

• What are SDGs? (Introduction)

• When is the duration? (SDGs Period)
• Who are involved? (Role of Engineers in SDGs)
• Why SDGs are required? (Importance of SDGs)
• How to manage SDGs? (Impact of SDGs)
 What are SDGs? We l e a d

• At the United Nations Sustainable

Development Summit on 25/09/15, world
leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, which includes a
set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality and
injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030.
 17 Sustainable Development Goals (UNITED NATIONS)
2015 - 2030
Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)
Goal 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved
nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for
all at all ages
Goal 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education
and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women
and girls
Goal 6 Ensure availability and sustainable management
of water and sanitation for all (6.a, 6.b)
Goal 7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable
and modern energy for all
Goal 8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable
economic growth, full and productive employment and
decentworkforall
Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive
and sustainable industrialization and foster
innovation
We l e a d
Goal 10 Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive,
safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production
patterns
Goal 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and
its impacts
Goal 14 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas
and marine resources for sustainable
development
Goal 15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of
terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage
forests, combat desertification, and halt and
reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity
loss
Goal 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for
sustainable development, provide access to
justice for all and build effective, accountable and
inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and
revitalize the global partnership for sustainable
development
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
We l e a d

• What are SDGs? (Introduction)

• When is the duration? (SDGs Period)
• Who are involved? (Role of Engineers in SDGs)
• Why SDGs are required? (Importance of SDGs)
• How to manage SDGs? (Impact of SDGs)
 We l e a d

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

are designed as an extension to the former 8
Millennium Development Goals
(that failed to be fully realized by 2015).

It is aspired that the 17 SDGs will be fully

realized by 2030.
MDGs & SDGs/SDGs Consensus process
We l e a d
We l e a d
We l e a d
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
We l e a d

• What are SDGs? (Introduction)

• When is the duration? (SDGs Period)
• Who are involved? (Role of Engineers
in SDGs)
• Why SDGs are required? (Importance of SDGs)
• How to manage SDGs? (Impact of SDGs)
 We l e a d

• Engineers work in a social context: technology

affects and is affected by societal processes,
conflict and values.
• Societies face sustainability problems that
demand more of engineers, especially in our
ability to analyse complex systems and work in
cross-disciplinary teams in which values will
differ and will impact technology assessments.
 We l e a d

• Ethical considerations are the rule, not the

exception and a constant part of engineering
(although varying in importance).
• As a professional group, engineers are
responsible for contributing to sustainable
development by actively participating in
decision-making processes in society and by
clarifying risks and environmental
consequences of technologies and projects.
 We l e a d

• To an engineer, a sustainable system is one

that is either in equilibrium, or one that
changes slowly at a tolerable rate.
• This concept of sustainability is best illustrated
by natural ecosystems, which consist of the
whole system that changes slowly.
 Engineers’ Contributions: We l e a d

• By reducing waste and increasing the efficient

use of resources.
• Harvesting renewable resources within the
limits allowed by nature will ensure a
continuing supply of resources for humans
and natural ecosystems.
• Minimizing our use of non-renewable
resources and replacing them with
environmentally friendly substitutes.
 We l e a d

• Processing natural resources efficiently and

with little or no waste helps to preserve the
earth’s finite natural resources that have
minimal adverse environmental impacts.
• Transporting resources and manufactured
goods efficiently to consumers by pipelines,
rivers, railways, roads, ships to reduce
environmental effects.
 Engineers’ Role: We l e a d

Engineers play a crucial role in creating

infrastructure in the world.
• Engineers are problem solvers who apply their
knowledge and experience to building
projects that meet human needs, and to
cleaning up environmental problems.
• They work on a wide range of issues and
projects, and as a result, how engineers work
can have a significant impact on progress
toward sustainable development.
 We l e a d

Engineers are problem solvers. They use skills or

information that include the following:
• The results of scientific discoveries.
• Empirical experience gained from centuries of
construction.
• Innovative approaches gained from recent projects.
• Analyses of costs versus benefits over the life of
projects.
• Evaluation of environmental impacts versus benefits.
• Consideration of political, cultural and social
environments at project locations.
 We l e a d

In the future, engineers can be of even greater help in

achieving the goals of sustainable development if they
are able to finance and execute programs such as the
following:
• Creating a comprehensive program to identify and provide the
information that engineers in developing countries need to meet
energy requirements, as well as food, health and other basic
human needs.
• Expanding global educational programs on sustainable
development for students and practicing engineers.
• Encouraging more engineers to become environmental
generalists.
 We l e a d

• Becoming actively engaged in the full range of decision-making

processes in addition to performing projects.
• Improving methods for identifying and considering all of a
project’s environmental costs and impacts throughout a project’s
life cycle.
• Creating programs to provide hands-on-help, share knowledge
and provide assistance on technically viable, commercially
feasible and socially sustainable projects in developing countries.
• Supporting well-crafted policies and creative applications of
engineering principles, and committing to partnerships with
social and physical scientists and health and medical
professionals.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
We l e a d

• What are SDGs? (Introduction)

• When is the duration? (SDGs Period)
• Who are involved? (Role of Engineers in SDGs)
• Why SDGs are required? (Importance
of SDGs)
• How to manage SDGs? (Impact of SDGs)
 We l e a d

• Transition from Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) to Sustainable Development
Goals
• Sustainable development = meeting the needs
of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own
needs. (United Nations, 1987)
 We l e a d

• Sustainable development is meant to develop

three dimensions: ecological, economic and
social.
The ecological dimension involves sustaining the
environment's production capacity and not exceeding
the environment's assimilative capacity.
The economic dimension involves efficiently
managing finite natural resources and capital for the
long term.
The social dimension involves societal institutions
that are important for human needs, such as
democracy, trust, law, and international organizations.
 MDGs & SDGs: Comparison
We l e a d

• Transition from Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) to SDGs
MDG SDG
Traditional assistance Traditional assistance
+ Universal goals
Limited goals More comprehensive
Top-down process Inclusive goal setting
Traditional statistics Traditional + Data revolution
Hunger and poverty together Distinction
Quantity Education Quality Education
Funding: Focus on limited Broader set of financial
sources sources
We l e a d
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
We l e a d

• What are SDGs? (Introduction)

• When is the duration? (SDGs Period)
• Who are involved? (Role of Engineers in SDGs)
• Why SDGs are required? (Importance of SDGs)
• How to manage SDGs? (Impact of
SDGs)
Through Sustainability Hierarchy
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 Principles of Sustainability (1) We l e a d

Sustainability:
• The capacity of the earth’s natural systems
and human cultural systems to survive,
flourish, and adapt to changing environmental
conditions into the very long-term future.
• This Requires:
A transition in human attitudes toward the
environment, and a shift in behavior, can lead to
a much better future for the planet in the
future.
 Principles of Sustainability (2) We l e a d

Sustainable Development:

Sustainable development contains within it two key

concepts:
(1) the concept of “needs”, in particular the essential
needs of the world's poor, to which overriding
priority should be given;
(2) the idea of limitations imposed by the state of
technology and social organization on the
environment's ability to meet present and future
needs.
 1. Through Sustainable Design We l e a d

• Sustainable design is the way of doing things or

making things such that the result of the design
meets the three pillars of sustainability –
environment, economy & society
• It should NOT cause irreversible change to the
environment – locally and globally, should be
functional, practical, and economically viable, and
should benefit society.
• Sustainable design uses a holistic approach that
optimizes the overall system performance, not just
the product or service itself.
Principles of Sustainability Design
We l e a d

1. Holistic approach to environmental,

social, and economic issues.
2. Minimize environmental impacts
(pollution, waste, disruption, etc.).
3. Use renewable energy and resources
efficiently.
4. Design for reuse, recycling, and
emotionally and functionally
durability.
2. Through Sustainable Engineering
We l e a d

• Its about the idea how to provide a

sustainable solution to a technical problem
and its implementation.
• Sustainable engineering requires an
interdisciplinary approach in all aspects of
engineering.
• All engineering fields should incorporate
sustainability into their practice in order to
improve the quality of life for all.
 Sustainable Engineering We l e a d

The overarching goal is to generate a balanced

solution to any engineering problem.
Sustainable Engineering
We l e a d
Grand Engineering Challenges We l e a d
 Lessons Learnt and You can: We l e a d

1. Contribute to building a sustainable society, present

and future.
2. Apply professional and responsible judgement and
take a leadership role.
3. Do more than just comply with legislation and
codes.
4. Use resources efficiently and effectively.
5. Seek multiple views to solve sustainability
challenges.
6. Manage risk to minimise adverse impact on people
or environment.
 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDG)
We l e a d

A 15-year plan to go beyond the previous 15-plan -

2015
 CONCLUSION: We l e a d

• The concept of attaining sustainable

development goals (SDGs) is used normatively,
to define what ought to be done:
1. It requires us to make decisions based on values.
2. Justice is central to sustainable development, both
within and between generations, and may extend to
species other than humans.
3. Sustainable development requires a systems
approach and a holistic approach.
4. Sustainable development is a process, not a
destination.
 Presented by
akmam@PPKA

THANK YOU FOR

YOUR ATTENTION…