By Er. Mohammad Ashraf Fazili FIE
From the earliest times, the engineers always strived for enrichment of their knowledge and skill to upgrade the quality of life and their performance. There, is no end to development and engineering progress.
From the archival discoveries it is revealed that it has taken thousands of years for man to reach the present state.
Our ancestors speak about the Prehistoric World spanning 100,000-40,000 years ago, followed by Stone Age 50,000-10,000 years ago, Neolithic humans from 12,000 years ago, Metal Age-Bronze Age from 3000 BC, Iron Age 2000 and 1200 BC, followed by The Dawn of History with Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Christianity, The rise of Islam in 610 AD, The Middle Ages around 1000 AD, emergence of civilizations, kingdoms, settlements of cities, ancient philosophers followed by scientific thinkers in 17th century AD, when experimentation and observation were the preferred tools of deduction. Here engineers have played a key role. The pace of development in the past few decades has been much faster than ever before and the future poses more drastic challenges due to population explosion and limited available resources.
At present the “Smart” way of life is the best way of living. When people say “Smart”, they mean a complete package that is convenient and ingenious. The word “smart” is often associated with feats of modern engineering. From the invention of wheels in ancient times to the innovation of smartphones a few years ago, scientists and engineers have found cutting-edge ways to help build a modern society.
The future surely seems bright with engineering innovations popping up each day. We will illuminate some engineering innovations that have made modern living convenient, efficient, and satisfactory. It will also illuminate you with modern technology that might help solve many world crises.
How Far Have We Come?
Modern Computers: It may sound very basic and obvious, but computers have given birth to the modern world; thus, they must be mentioned. Without home and office computers, the world would have been stuck in the 1940s. Today, every industry, including Banking, Aviation, Consumer Goods, Manufacturing Units, Power Plants, etc., runs on and depends on computers. Don’t you think the world will fall into anarchy if every computer decides to stop working from tomorrow!
Green Energy: Now, let’s move on to something relatively recent. Green Energy is a broad term. It is a term categorized for any energy generated from natural resources. These may include sunlight, water, wind, etc. Green energy has no detrimental effects on the environment, unlike fossil fuels.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): Wouldn’t it be wonderful if your daily life, including work, remained on autopilot? Well, this dream can be fulfilled these days easily with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). We use AI daily, from using Google Maps to find directions to Siri on our iPhones to Alexa on Amazon Echo devices. In many workplaces, AI has also been integrated to make people’s jobs easier and more efficient such as voice assistants in phone calls, email, chatbots, etc.
Mobile Wallets: Mobile wallets are electronic wallets (E-wallets) used to make payments for anything starting from regular groceries to high-tech factory equipment. Gone are the days when you have to use paper bills or plastic cards to make payments. E-wallets are a hassle-free method to make fast and secure payments with the press of a button. Moreover, all banks have mobile phone apps, through which you can also make payments. Prime examples of E-wallets and mobile banking solutions include PayPal, SBI Yono, GPay, PhonePe, etc.
Growth of Small Businesses: eCommerce is a huge deal in today’s global economy. It has enabled countless small businesses to form and prosper in the last two decades. Small businesses these days can easily become very successful with the help of careful online marketing. From local clothing brands to freelancers, all entrepreneurs take advantage of this e-solution to move forward and develop better and more efficient businesses.
Eat Anything from Anywhere Without Leaving Your Home: Do you remember when you wanted to eat something fancy, and you had to go out to eat at a restaurant, or you craved some particular food from a restaurant that didn’t deliver food at your doorstep? Those days are gone. With the advent of food delivery apps on your smartphones, you can order any food from a restaurant in your city. Be it your favourite Biryani from a top-quality restaurant or an obscure roadside Dhaba that makes the best Tandoori Chicken, such apps provide food-delivery services to satisfy your cravings!
Smart Phones: The birth of smartphones brought to our palms a technological solution to all problems (literally). With the help of smartphones, we can do everything, such as perform phone calls, do banking transactions, watch movies, find out the news, check our emails, pay our bills, etc. Life has become a breeze with this modern technological marvel. Isn’t it!
Robots: CEP companies are (finally) getting serious about robotics. While in the early stages, more companies are gearing up rapidly to embrace more robotics – and adding the budgets to make it happen.
The pandemic accelerated the need to stop talking about and start employing robot technology and the promise it offers for making distribution centres safer, more efficient and with increased capacity to handle parcels. It is said that in crises efficiency of industries etc. increases, so has been the case during the years of the pandemic. People began to work on line without leaving their homes for their safety.
Innovation is the Way Forward.
Hopefully, this write up has helped translate how technological innovation is the way forward. Innovations have transformed how we communicate, think about our health, travel, and work. As we evolve more, our hunger for curiosity will only increase, leading to more innovations that’ll improve our lives.
Look at it this way – Jules Verne wrote his famous novel “From the Earth to the Moon” in 1865, when it was considered science fiction. One hundred and four years later, men landed on the moon, making it a “science-fact!” Thus, we reckon that even though we don’t really know what we are going to achieve in the future, the possibilities for further advancements are limitless. All it needs is the determination, the will, and the innovative minds to give shape to their ideas.
Thank You.
Er. Mohammad Ashraf Fazili FIE is a Former Chief Engineer
