Engineering has become one of the faster growing fields in universities and the job market. Part of the reason for this is because of the strong need and the lack of engineers across the world to keep up with the need, but another is because of all the ways engineering is changing dramatically. The future of engineering is changing every day, especially as the world evolves and a greater push for sustainability reshapes our society.

Read on for some of the biggest ways that engineering is changing, and what trends we can expect to see in the not so distant future. If you’re a future engineer, or this is a career path you’re interested in, perhaps you can gather some ideas for how you to would like to shape how engineering will change in the years to come.

Sustainable engineering

At some point in your life, you’ve probably heard of people crying out to save the rainforests, the natural resources, or even the trees in your backyard. These cries have been loud for generations, but even more so looking towards the future. This is because our planet continues to take natural resources without giving back enough to replenish what we take, which makes these protests incredibly important, as well as the need for areas like sustainable engineering to step in and make a difference.

Engineers are starting to focus on what we can do to be more sustainable and be more careful with the resources that we are taking from the earth. For example, sustainable housing, built with recycled and green materials, or sourcing materials from extremely renewable items, is on the rise. Even materials that things are built with are being built out of more recyclable or longer lasting items, like mooring swivels or lifting straps. Early studies are showing that building with recycled material, versus some of the more toxic materials, has a positive effect on health. Think about how asbestos has affected our health, and that will give you a good idea into how safer materials are really important for our future.   

Energy efficiency

Across the world, countries are finally beginning to understand how important energy efficiency is for engineering. Unfortunately, large construction projects have been skyrocketing in energy use as the demand continues to rise as well, making for a huge need to cut back on energy use. This has become so important on a global level, that the Paris Agreement was signed by nearly 180 countries to help mitigate the effect on climate change.

One of the biggest pieces of reducing climate change issues is reducing carbon emissions, and this was a big part of what countries have agreed to do with the Paris Agreement. Carbon emissions are created from burning coal, gas and oil, which are ironically activities often performed in large construction projects. Engineers are beginning to look at ways to continue these projects but lower their carbon emissions at the same time, and staying within budget, which is a difficult task.  

There’s also a smaller percentage of the carbon emission problem that comes from the tearing down of forests and land. Forests help keep the planet healthy and the air clean, so removing these natural air purifiers mean the effect of carbon emissions is even higher. Engineers are also faced with the future problem of preserving the natural resources that help keep our planet clean, but must continue on dealing with the never ending need for building and industry.   

Energy efficiency in buildings is another important piece that engineers are focusing on. Beyond the sustainability in housing as we talked about above, homes and buildings are starting to be built with less reliance on energy, and more reliance on natural sources. For example, built in solar panels, or geothermal heating sources will continue to gain popularity. They’re also saving us money and materials, which is part of the reason they’re becoming more mainstream.  

Automotive engineering

The future of automotive engineering sounds a whole lot like what we’ve already gone over. Sustainability and efficiency is the name of the future, even in items that created some of the climate change problems in the first place, like automobiles. Since they are such a huge problem with emissions, automotive engineers are faced with finding a way to urgently create cleaner vehicles.

Whether it’s the type of fuel the car uses, focusing on cleaner gasoline or other fuel sources, or moving away from fuel altogether and exploring battery powered or electric vehicles, it’s obvious that cars need to change. We’re a long ways away from being independent from fuel sources, but we’ll see the trend of automotive engineering continue to move away from traditional fuel.

Chemical engineering

The future of chemical engineering is all about the creation of something from nothing. For example, the creation of artificial blood that actually works, could eliminate the global and constant need for blood donors. Chemical engineers work furiously to tackle needs like these, along with other nanoengineering issues.

Other trends

Obviously one of the biggest shifts as humans in the last few decades has been the huge technology growth. With nearly 3 billion social media users, the impact on what this means for information technology, communication, and data is huge. Insane amounts of information is held on cloud based systems, meaning that security threats continue to be more and more real. Engineers who specialise in technology or information engineering will keep focusing on the intense need for cyber security, as well as expanding the storage needed for the influx of data.

This is just but a small sampling of how engineering is changing today. The even greater future of engineering will continue with these themes of sustainability and preservation of not only our planet and its materials, but also the preservation of our personal data, security, and communication.