During this financial turmoil, probably everyone is preoccupied with the economy downturn rather than the adverse effects of global warming. Even when the economy is booming, many of us are still ignoring this perpetual environment issue. Sadly, not many people realize that the rapid development and growth of human population has put up great pressure on the environment, sustainable development is what should have been done in the first place. To curb global warming requires collective contribution from all the governments around the world, there is not much one can do to mitigate a global issue.
The burning of fossil fuel as the major culprit of global warming is no longer a secret since its accumulation in the earth’s atmosphere has been known to be the perpetrator of rising global temperature. In Malaysia, our government expresses their concern pertaining to global warming by introducing hydrofuel as an alternative source of energy for vehicles. Hydrofuel is a new form of energy that is proven to reduce fuel consumption of vehicles up to fifty percent, thus indirectly cut down the emission of carbon dioxide gas by fifty percent. Hydrofuel would be a feasible source of energy for the market currently as the development of other alternate sources of energy is still premature.
Another important step taken by Malaysia government is to promote recycling. The slogan three Rs which stands for Reduce, Reuse and Recycle launched a few years ago has received considerable feedback from the people. Recycle bins are stationed at almost anywhere especially in school where the implementation would be very effective for the next generation to continue our effort in preserving the nature. Research shows that in addition to minimizing the amount of material extracted from the earth crust, recycling would definitely consume less power if compared to synthesizing them from raw material. Recycling is vital because the major source of energy used nowadays is mainly fossil fuel, therefore conserving energy is one of the viable measures to mitigate global warming.
The above mentioned policies are only a small part of those being implemented. Economy and environment should have equal priority, public is not advisable to put aside all those measures to curb global warming just because of recession. Therefore, let us put our hand together to build a better future for our next generation, allow them to have a chance to witness the beauty of our environment.
The ability of multitasking is a highly sought after quality by an employer in today’s diversified working environment. Multitasking in general means that one is capable of handling different job simultaneously or task that was not one specialised for. Consequently, engineers as part of the workforce inevitably have to step out of their comfort zone in order to keep abreast with the latest trend by acquiring new skills for instance in management and finance. In Professor Ramakrishna’s article, it is heartening to read that the demand of engineers is increasing owing to the ability of “systematically analyse complex information and apply a holistic approach in designing solutions”. How an engineer possesses such distinct quality is a question to ponder about.
One of the reasons that instill this particular quality in engineers would be the curricular structure of the engineering courses offered by educational institution. Due to the complexity of the questions encountered by engineers that involve substantially large amount of variables and figures, a solution could not be produce immediately through arbitrary methods. In fact a step by step problem solving methodology is emphasized when dealing with complex problems. A systematic approach requires thorough understanding of the particular problem in hand by listing out all the available information before deducing the appropriate solution. Furthermore the techniques of solving problem used usually have to be applied sequentially according to rules and regulations to avoid undesirable results.
Often engineers will have a complete plan written or at least in their mind before engaging in any activities to minimize wastage due to failure. Along the process, reports are made to keep track of the current progress so that when difficulties arise, engineers could detect and eradicate the flaws immediately. In reality, planning is essential in designing consumer products that are practical yet satisfy the safety requirement. Therefore it is evident that engineers are familiar with a systematic approach in designing solution through continuous practice in their native working environment.
Although systematic approach is imperative in solving many daily problems, creativity is yet another quality that should be developed as well. Sometimes thinking out of the box would produce a much better solution than conventional way. In addition an engineer should not be confined within their specialised field solely without exploring other potential talent on themselves.
