Engineers are encouraged to seize future opportunities
ASHRAE* president Tim Wentz has called on engineers to embrace the potential of technology to deliver more comfortable and effective buildings. Speaking at CIBSE’s Technical Symposium at Loughborough University last month (April), he emphasised the dramatic changes that are being driven by digital technologies.
Referring to what he believes is an imminent ‘golden age’ for engineering, Tim Wentz listed psychology and its role in occupant satisfaction as being a growing area for building-services engineers to occupy as traditional disciplines are increasingly taken over by computers.
With computers capable of more processing power than all of humanity predicted to exist by 2050, he encouraged engineers to embrace the opportunity to build better buildings than ever before in a ‘built-environment renaissance’.
Reflecting his enthusiasm, CIBSE president John Field said, ‘It is an exciting time to be an engineer as technology changes our profession right before our eyes. We need to be prepared to embrace new ideas and techniques as they develop to take full advantage of their potential.
‘Events like the Technical Symposium show us what is possible by giving a platform to some of the best engineering minds at the top of their fields and by allowing us to all swap and share ideas that may result in the next big advances in the future.’
* American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air-Conditioning Engineers
