Category: Editorial & Opinion

Engineers and Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy

By on December 16th, 2017 in Editorial & Opinion, Environment, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact

Unmet local concerns related to renewable energy projects can result in costly project delays or cancellation. Strong political and financial incentives encourage state authorities and renewable energy developers to address issues of social acceptance.

Virtual reality apparatus used in mining.

On Country

By on September 26th, 2017 in Editorial & Opinion, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Societal Impact

Mining has had an impact on many Aboriginal communities in Australia. As we move to a mining sector where dump trucks, underground excavators, loaders, and conveyor systems are transformed into partial or fully autonomous systems, there is little or no human labor required other than to maintain equipment or provide oversight using a range of distant surveillance technologies.

Tragedy of the Digital Commons: Amplified Zombies

By on September 20th, 2017 in Editorial & Opinion, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact

There is an unshakable faith in our industry that we can do anything and that everything we do must be good and beneficial to society. Our industry has had similar crises before, such as dot-com busts, that exposed our assumptions, but the ideas are still here. As an industry and society, can we continue to develop solutions that unduly amplify human behavior – so that we provide and support a way for harm to be normalized? As an industry and society, can we continue to promote solutions based on long-held and dominate theories – so that the wider community is misled by influential advocates? The answer is a clear “no” to both.