Engineering is a word we use to describe the creative process of finding practical design solutions for everyday problems in every conceivable discipline.  But certain parts of the engineering world are changing from problem-solving fields into puzzle solving fields.  What I mean is this:  Engineers in affluent countries now make up the problems they solve.  This trend, I expect, will continue for part of the next 100 and then collapse, giving way to what many other engineers will be doing in the meanwhile - fighting for solutions to real human problems against impossible odds. 

 

These days, within countries such as the U.S., Japan, Korea, and most of Western Europe, there is so much prosperity that most engineers are employed by the public simply to make life easier and more comfortable.  The tech industry has done an amazing job of coming up with “problems” of modern life that they can solve by creating products to meet nearly every conceivable technological desire.  But the public cries out for more, and faster.  And with every new invention - be it video mp3 cell phones, AMD 64 computers with Longhorn OS, and iPod video from Best Buy, to self-guided vacuum cleaners, massage LAY-Z-BOY recliners, and digital meat thermometers from Sharper Image - comes more desire for better, lighter, cheaper, faster toys.  And that is what we shamelessly admit these things are nowadays.  These are not necessities and yet over half, I would speculate, of the engineering workforce is focused on these items.  It is a self-compounding industry trying to meet an insatiable demand - human greed.  Because of this, my prediction is that over the next 40 years we will go way beyond optical computers and space stations as knowledge, information and, hence, solutions are growing exponentially in a world where communication is no longer a barrier.

 

But I am worried about something.  While so many engineers and engineering schools are dumping time and resources into these unnecessary goods, much of the world, ~1/3 of it, lives in poverty.  Millions starve to death, infrastructure is in disrepair or non-existent, earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunami's catch everyone off guard and these problems are truly escalating.  People, myself included, love to think of Feed the Hungry, World Relief, The Peace Corps, World Vision, and Red Cross and imagine that they are solving the problems and eventually we will all be one big happy family.  This could not be further from the truth.  The fact is that we need engineers in the trenches solving real, current problems for this world and addressing questions like: Where are the needs of today and of the foreseeable future?  What resources do we have to meet those needs?  We look for answers to these questions all the time within our fields of ever-advancing technology but rarely do we consider our fellow man and how to use engineering to solve modern day problems (in the true sense of the word problem).  I think that over the next 100 years there will be a greater demand for engineers to find solutions to these true human problems than ever before.  Institutions like USC will most likely continue to emphasize practical solutions to emerging problems but with the focus on using every discipline in collaboration to meet basic needs.  How do we use electrical engineering, CS, structural engineering, etc. to meet fundamental needs?  I would venture that based on what the Lord said about the last days and also based on entropy, we can assume this world will continue to experience more and more catastrophic events which will require millions of engineers working together to prevent human loss and to provide relief.  I also think that engineers will be working to provide support and services to those spreading the good news of Jesus’ saving work for man to meet the deepest need of men, spiritual change through the love of God.  From civil engineers all the way down to nanotech gurus, the knowledge we have must be put to appropriate use. 

 

Right now, I think tech engineering is headed down a track that will fall out from under itself or be redirected as people realize that their physical needs are the same as that of every man - food and shelter.  And these things, I believe, are what engineers are going to be working the hardest to provide, not too long from now.  Let’s not just talk about the next 100 years of engineering but humbly gear up to address true physical problems through engineering.