Council – International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences

Council October 2020

Featured Member Activities

Engineering Innovations in Response to the Challenges of the Pandemic. This international webinar is being organized by the US National Academy of Engineering, Chinese Academy of Engineering, and UK Royal Academy of Engineering. This first event in a series will focus on the initial phase of the pandemic, when, amid crippling widespread shortages, engineers availed themselves of whatever resources were on-hand to quickly and effectively apply them to the problems created by the pandemic. Register to attend.

Significant Gas Fired Generation Required During Transition to Zero Carbon. The Irish Government has adopted a challenging target of having 70% of the country’s electricity produced from renewable sources (primarily wind and solar) by 2030. In its newly published report, ‘The Challenge of High Levels of Renewable Electricity in Ireland’s Electricity System’ the Irish Academy of Engineering (IAE) seeks to identify the risks in the transition to renewable electricity and recommend prudent actions by policy makers.

Moral Imagination for Social Justice in Engineering. Despite over fifty years of calls to diversify engineering, progress has been far too slow. We need to rethink engineering ethics and practice to benefit a broader range of publics, incorporating not just intellectual reasoning but also emotional intelligence and embodied enactments of justice. The US National Academy of Engineering is hosting a webinar on 12 March 2021 during which root causes affecting progress and pathways for advancement will be discussed. More information is available here.

Driving the Human. Germany’s National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) has partnered with the Arts to launch a unique transdisciplinary initiative to discover new ways to combine social and technological innovations in order to rethink visions of the future. The global project aims to create spaces investigating critical questions from a multitude of perspectives around the world. The international community is invited to support effort through a Global Open Call for participation. Additional information, including an interview with acatech’s project lead can be found here.

Spotlight on Engineering

Engineer’s Day Celebration in the Netherlands was celebrated on March 17, praising the skills and inventions of engineers. The celebration is organized for the members of the Royal Institute of Engineers; one of the most important events of this special day is revealing the name of the Engineer of the year. Dr. David Fernandez Rivas, associate professor of fluid dynamics at the University of Twente, was named as the 2021 winner of this prestigious award.

Council October 2020

Council June 2019

Council September 2018

Council November 2017