From the Editor Vol.49 (3)

Abstract

I do not think that any Engineer will take offence to the statement that “Engineering is substantially innovation”. Through the annals of history, it is the innovativeness of the Homo-sapiens in harnessing the nature in both material and energy spheres for their survival and propagation, not to mention convenience and comfort, which made them the unique species to dominate this planet. Then wouldn‟t we call the innovations which brought the present day splendour to human kind, Engineering? To further qualify the first statement, let us consider the eighth and the last clause on our ethical conduct which states “Engineers shall be committed to the need for sustainable management of the planet‟s resources and seek to minimize adverse environmental impacts of their engineering works or applications of technology so as to protect both present and future generations”. So, conversely how Engineers could fulfil this commitment without innovativeness is also difficult to imagine. Having established the above fact that “Engineering is substantially innovation”, we Engineers need to be innovators to fulfil our basic call. Now more than ever, our innovativeness should transcend local need fulfilment to cater for global conservation and sustainability. To this end, we should engineer our products to use minimal possible materials and energy with minimal pollutants to the environment while effectively catering to the needs with safety. Though incineration could hardly be called an environment friendly process, at a place where it has become necessary, at least creating its infrastructure fulfilling most of the above virtues is significantly innovative, or rather, is real Engineering.