Category: Societal Impact

Raising Teens to Live with Technology Responsibly

By on January 15th, 2018 in Editorial & Opinion, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact

Today, over 90% of U.S. teenagers are online. When it comes to social media, 50% of all teenagers log on at least once a day, with 22% logging on more than 10 times a day. We, like our parents and their parents before them, are worried about the effect that technology is having on the development of our kids. The author discussed the five rules for teaching teens to live with technology responsibly.

The Unstoppable Changing of the Electricity Guard

By on December 20th, 2017 in Commentary, Environment, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact

Twenty-five years ago we didn’t know that solar energy, including modular photovoltaic (PV) plants ranging in size from 1 kW to hundreds of megawatts, along with increasingly larger, electronically-aided wind generators (up to 8-MW offshore units), would become in just 25 years the cornerstones of a revolution in power production that is drastically changing the face and fate of power systems.

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.

BOOK REVIEW: Facist Pigs

By on October 20th, 2017 in Book Reviews, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact

In today’s world of climate denial and vaccine skepticism, one would be forgiven for assuming that an anti-intellectual, anti-expertise, anti-truth wave is sweeping the globe, and that the rise of the far right necessarily spells an end for science-informed policy.

LETTER: Licensing Engineering Professionals

By on October 12th, 2017 in Magazine Articles, Societal Impact

Licensing of Engineering Professionals: Is there any validity to this practice? The Education Department of the State of New York says — there is. IEEE Policy also says there is. The reality, I have come to continuously over four decades in practice as an electrical power engineer in the service of more than a dozen U.S. firms — is that there is none!