Forum: Young People in Engineering and Business - YPEB

President: Eng. Pablo Bereciartúa
Vice-president: Eng. Nurit Weitz

The Forum “Young People in Engineering and Business” was held on Sunday, October 17, 2010, with the participation of more than 2,000 advanced students and young engineers from all the Argentine provinces and 17 countries.
There were lectures and panels on the three proposed topics: 1) innovation and entrepreneurial activity; 2) labor market for young engineers, and 3) future vision of engineering, with the presence of prominent keynote speakers from Argentina, Brazil, Holland, Sweden and Germany. There was also the presentation of the winning papers of the “call for papers”.

Main Conclusions

1)    Innovation and Entrepreneurial Activity

It is necessary to consider a new definition of the term “entrepreneur” as “someone who goes around the world and works on improving the things he does not like”, a person who is concerned about the general well-being and thus develops a business plan. The challenge is to be able to generate business that contributes to sustainable development.    

It is important to organize public and private innovation competitions to foster the development of new processes and products which propose technological solutions to improve people’s quality of life. It is also important to encourage opportunities that facilitate the implementation of those innovative ideas, particularly within the context of developing countries.

It is worth mentioning that it is convenient to create new social networks linking investors and entrepreneurs, using the collective intelligence (crowd funding) to choose projects and find real opportunities. It is essential that firms open up to the world and work out collaborative strategies to face a changing world.

2)    Labor Market for Young Engineers

There is a new generation of engineers, more flexible and open to technological changes. It is necessary that the new engineers develop not only technological capacities but also social competence such as: communication, leadership, teamwork, etc.

It is important to acknowledge that previous generations of engineers can contribute with the new generations, joining their experience and knowledge, to develop a more active role of engineering in the search of solutions for the problems of the world, particularly by fostering “bridges” between university, business and the State.

3)    Future Vision of Engineering

It is imperative that engineers apply their knowledge and training to find solutions for the complex problems of the environment, infrastructure deficit, and unmet basic needs of a large sector of society.  

Many of today’s challenges, such as the increasing demands of infrastructure in cities or the supply of clean energies, are complex socio-technological problems which arose in different periods and with different technological paradigms, and it is necessary to develop a systemic and holistic vision to solve them.

The most-widely used notion of infrastructure optimal design is therefore inadequate. It is necessary to think in the robustness, flexibility and resilience required for the systems to adapt to the possible –and many times unpredictable– future conditions.

Recommendations for Action

It is proposed that these same topics should be spread, discussed and addressed in future WFEO conventions and that these new generations of engineers should increasingly participate in international organizations. Argentina offers its capacity to lead the development of this agenda.

Forum: Women in Engineering and Business - WEB

President: Eng. Olga Cavalli
Vice-president: Eng. Silvia Wolanski

Final version of the Conclusions in charge of Olga Cavalli.

Now I would like to share the main concepts stated during the Forum “Women in Engineering and Business”. Here is some information to set the context:

Only 2% of the wealth is in the possession of women.
Only 17% of the decision-making positions are in charge of women.
There are only 8 female heads of State.
Salaries for women engineers in positions of same responsibility and similar roles are between 20% and 30% lower than those of men.

Are we satisfied with a 10% of women in the world of engineering?

It is important to understand the value of a diverse engineering, starting with the education of young people in relation to engineering and to the role of women in this profession.  

It is also important to engage all the actors who should be convinced of the enriching value of this change, for the profession and because of its effects on society and on the development of our countries. Developing countries as ours need more engineers and women engineers.  

We must understand the impact on economic models of the inclusion of women in engineering careers and there must also be a political decision to achieve it by means of active educational and employment policies in favor of women engineers.

We must understand the meaning of having women engineers in important positions in firms, how to manage their professional career and how to motivate them during it. Women themselves must promote the active participation of their women colleagues.

A greater participation of women engineers in professional workplaces and organizations is a necessity. There should be at least one woman in each committee of engineers: this Forum has proved with concrete examples that this can been achieved and that its effects have been positive.

Successful examples of the women's participation in these workplaces should be made known since they will serve as inspiration for the new generations of engineers and women engineers. But women engineers are also the ones who should not fall behind and must make use of the spaces for participation.

In Argentina, there is a 25% of women engineering students but few of them choose the “hardest” branches such as electronic or civil engineering.

Statistics show that the daughters of professionals tend to follow university careers. Consequently, the favorable family environment and education are factors that can promote the vocation for engineering.

There are already firms in Argentina that strongly believe that professional diversity has a positive impact on productivity, that diversity has value, as stated by the corporation Tenaris, in which 21% of the professionals are women engineers. To accomplish this project, the firm studied the needs related to infrastructure, flexibility of working hours, possibility of teleworking and availability of nursery services and breastfeeding areas. The program also includes promotion activities at universities and exhaustive measurements to assess its development.

Women are a significant factor in the management of rural projects, which are of great relevance in relation to the accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals. However, employment of women engineers in rural workplaces is even more difficult. The use of knowledge tools provided by engineering is of key importance for the management of rural development projects and women and women engineers play an essential role in them to achieve efficiency and project sustainability.

Regarding water matters, there are workshops on management of water resources and gender, providing training to work out strategies for the better use of these resources. The importance of women as a silent driving force of many activities related to water use was pointed out since they are the builders of values as well as of the relation with the environment.

Finally:

It is important that women engineers develop themselves according to their own nature, i.e. that they find the balance and harmony between their own personality, family, profession and contribution to society.

It is necessary to take care of energy and to protect the environment through the rational use of resources; and, above all, the personal commitment that makes us participate and give a good example so that we all become more and more aware of our responsibility of building a better habitable world.

In this context, the woman engineer is a true agent of change that favors the diversity required by firms and society as a whole to achieve a sustainable development.

Information and Communication Technologies - ICTs  

Organized together with UPADI Committee on ICTs

President: Eng. Luis Perazo
Vice-president: Eng. Susana Fiquelievich

All the participants agreed on the great influence that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have on all the aspects of society.

On the other hand, it is also recognized that they have the possibility of contributing to all the Millennium Development Goals defined by the United Nations to be accomplished in the third millennium.

In the first place, ICTs are recognized as a very important element for the development of nations and, in this sense, they are considered to be a big opportunity for the countries which are using these technologies. We are in front of a window of great possibilities.

However, there has also been agreement that some issues need to be specially worked on so as to achieve these possibilities. Basically: strong public policies and great educational encouragement.   

Participants provided a lot of information about the following topics:

1.    They concluded on the need of protecting innate freedoms in Internet, with clear and permanent rules.

2.    The double convergence of basic sciences on the one hand and information and communication technologies on the other potentiates both to accomplish the expected objectives. The transformation of the systems in the next years will be of a great magnitude. The evolution should be directed in line with the ethical principles of society.

3.    There is a noticeable reduction of the so-called “technological gap” that some years ago caused a new way of exclusion. Prices of products and services have been substantially reduced and governments have provided important (yet not enough) aid plans for those sectors of the population that need them.

4.    The feature of the efficient use of networks, characteristic of ICTs, has extended to public, academic and productive organizations, bringing about a significant transformation of society.

5.    Projects have been submitted and are being developed to apply virtual techniques to educational processes.

6.    There are large investments to ensure the already developed systems, what makes it impossible to use larger budgets for development and implementation of useful new systems.

In this sense, it is suggested to support capacity-building in these topics in the learning stages of professionals in order to generate safer systems from the beginning and avoid the frequent waste of resources, as happens today.  

7.    Participants provided many examples of application that allow far-away populations and with fewer resources, to have access to communication tools and even to financial support, which until quite recently were only available for large corporations located in the main business centers.

8.    Field examples were shown in which these same populations improved their situation as regards health matters.

9.    We can already use the “global knowledge”, potentiating our capacities and making it possible to project new realities. The exchange that considers the whole country and its region is essential to meet objectives of greater scope and depth.

10.    Latin American states are making the effort to direct the evolution of research and application of technologies. During the sessions, many plans which are currently under way were described. However, in many cases what is being carried out in the region seems to be poorly coordinated.

11.    States must use ICTs in all those cases in which they ensure transparency and people’s participation; in this sense, participants mentioned several experiences of e-government and electronic vote. Field experimentation of these equipments has been stated as one of the substantial aspects to be taken into account at the time of making investment decisions.  


To conclude:

Governments, the education community and production must direct the development of these technologies and their applications so as to use their potentials in the areas that promote growth, encourage education and contribute to the protection of health, according to their specific needs and considering those of the international society. They should have a wide vision of technological advances to imagine the most appropriate solutions for their reality. They will promote the progress of technology and services by means of programs and policies in the long run which allow the use of available opportunities and restrict the illegal unintended effects this process sometimes brings about.   

Energy and Climate Change - ECC

President: Eng. Mario Wiegers
Vice-presidents: Eng. Julio García Velazco, Eng. Manuel Scotto


Context

The energy challenge is to meet the future demand minimizing environmental impacts, particularly green-house gas (GHG) emissions. And, in this context, it is also relevant to promote the access of the world population to the use of energy as a basis for a sustainable human development.

At present, the power grid shows that fossil fuels are the source of 80% of the primary energy consumption, complemented by 7% of nuclear energy and 13% of renewable ones. Most projections state that this structure will not have significant percentage changes in the next 30 to 40 years. It will be necessary to almost double the energy supply in the next 40 years. China alone requires the installation of 1,300MW every 10 days, i.e. the equivalent to a nuclear power plant every 10 days. This means that strategic decisions need to be taken as regards how to deal with the new energy supply, considering the required investments and operating and environmental costs throughout the lifecycle of projected installations.

An important increase of nuclear and renewable energies is envisaged, but still with a relevant percentage of conventional energies. These should undoubtedly incorporate new ways of storage and transport and technologies to reduce the impact on climate change, for example, by means of carbon capture and storage (CCS) or otherwise by devising alternatives to offset emissions. The Kyoto protocol defines offset systems between countries through the trading of “carbon credits”. On the other hand, several countries have extended the maintenance period and service life of their nuclear power plants.

The question is then how to manage this transition process so as to achieve the best results in terms of sustainable development.


Technologies

As regard traditional energies, it is estimated that there are enough carbon, oil and gas resources to meet the future demand but with increasing production costs due to the use of fields with a more difficult access and to the need of reducing related environmental impacts.  

Participants notice a growing need of incorporating new technologies to have access to deeper fields, mainly offshore, and to make use of tar sands and oil shale.

Nuclear energy shows a “rebirthing” and is consolidating in those places where it already exists.

The development of renewable energies is estimated at significant growth rates, at an annual double-digit rate in its sector but with a reduced participation in the total amount of required energy. Wind power is becoming to be competitive compared to traditional generation and solar energy is also expected to be in a 10-20 year period.

Bioenergy is also expected to meet an important part of the future demand, both in the segment of liquid fuels and in biomass electric generation. At present, ethanol production from sugar canes is competitive with fossil fuels and estimated developments in energy crops and second-generation biofuels seem to anticipate an increasing use worldwide.

The use of renewable energies should be adapted to the needs and possibilities of each region. It is considered important that these developments contribute to the sustainable development of countries, mainly of developing countries, promoting job generation and a better quality of life.  

A field with great possibilities is that of energy efficiency: to achieve lower consumption without reducing productivity or comfort. On the one hand, there is the efficient management of demand, adjusting the supply profile to the needs of each period and, on the other, the development of products and systems with a lower energy consumption unit. The “green building” will bring about 20-30%energy reductions.

Electric power is estimated to have a substantial role in many fields. To a certain degree, the future world will be an “energy world”. The design of new systems will start with consumption, will consider “smart grids” and will determine the forms of generation. We will move from a “consumer” to a “prosumer”, and quality certification systems will be increasingly used.     


The New Engineering

The new engineering must consider the mitigation of green-house gas emissions, with new technologies. But, at the same time, we should work on the adaptation to climate change, we should adjust current infrastructure and design and build for the climate of the future.

We should gradually introduce, as the British expert Tim Fox pointed out, a process based on geo-engineering to have influence on the global properties of the planet as well as to find new technologies to remove green-house gases that already exist in the atmosphere, as a way of mitigating the transition in which we will possibly have greater emissions than those acceptable.  


Sustainable Development and the Role of Engineers

Finally, the Chapter addressed the role of engineering and of engineers:

Engineering can and must contribute in a superlative way to making the decisions that this transition process requires.  

On the one hand, we have the technical role, developing projects and new technologies, ensuring the economic and financial feasibility of initiatives and promoting sustainable development.
On the other, engineering plays a key role in formulating public policies and in informing society about the possible options and the need of acting at the proper time to reduce costs and environmental effects.   

This is our challenge.

Innovation in Primary Production and Agro-Alimentary Industries – IPPAI

President: Dr.-Ing. Agr. Sandra Fernández

IPPAI chapter emphasized the importance of agro-food production efficiency to overcome undernourishment and hunger in the world. It also pointed out that the problem requires integral solutions (not only technical) considering that obstacles such as corruption and deficiency in the institutional quality threaten the implementation of corrective measures. Technology alone is not enough; political decision and a better prioritization of key problems are necessary as well.

The current scenario was contextualized, pointing out the complexity and dynamism that characterize it, thus setting a highly competitive scheme which, at the same time, offers new and promising opportunities. Some of the prevailing conditions: price and climate risks, volatility of markets, energy problems, among others, are aspects that should be taken into account at the time of analyzing sectoral problems. Besides, new actors from the eastern world enter into the market as consumers of high-quality proteins. This pressure on food demand in turn tightens agro-food chains until the production stage, making services, machinery, agrochemical and labor more dynamic. The described situation offers new unknown opportunities for countries with competitive advantages in food production. Knowing how to make use of them is in charge of all the participants of the system and engineering professionals can make many contributions in this regard.      

Participants gave examples and pointed out the need of universalizing the use of the well-known   “good agricultural practices” as an enhanced approach in technological applications to increase food production. This implies the responsible use of available natural resources, particularly soil and water. It was stressed that the protection of those resources conditions the present and future productive horizon on which the world population depends. In this sense, the problem of water was considered as one of the most important, asking for a more rational use, preserving its quality and preventing its pollution.  

Emphasis was put on the importance of the articulation of the several stages of production and services in true production chains. Value accumulation throughout each chain, providing them with competitive and sustainable capacities, is a key element to promote industrial development, concentrating value in the trading of goods as final products.  

This approach of chains allows assuming the particularity of sectoral production problems without losing sight of integrity. In this sense and complementary to chains, networks also play a key role. The approach that considers the interaction of the parties involved, exchanging goods, services, information and, above all, knowledge, constitutes the so-called “organizations that learn”. These are the new production units in which to be involved as recipients of technological use.   

Land-use planning was another concept that was present. Some countries have made relevant advances but others need to include this approach which considers cross-cutting production, social and technological issues. It was agreed on the necessary implementation of a multifunctional analysis in the use of land as a unit, pointing out that environmental and social sustainability should be unavoidable dimensions in every technology-based rural project. Within the framework of this approach, it is essential to recognize the interactions between the local, regional and national levels and their articulation with the production environment to coordinate in a hierarchical way measures to improve people’s quality of life.        

Organization processes of producers are also worth mentioning. It is useless to increase production yields quantitatively if there are marketing problems and lack of scale to buy inputs. The concept that we should use today has also to do with organizational and management innovations.   

Many papers and invited speakers highlighted the potential for expansion of biotechnology although it is clear that biotechnology alone can not overcome the problem of hunger. Participants stressed the significant contribution that is expected of second-generation biotechnological innovations which are already creating food enriched with specific substances that are beneficial to the health. The great potential of genetic sequencing opens up unforeseen possibilities as well as complex in terms of their implications, not only technical and productive but also moral and ethical.  

Finally:

There are no possibilities of development without innovation but innovation alone does not guarantee development.

In short, as engineering professionals we have a great responsibility of contributing to the solution of current problems and let us hope that we have the capacity to work and improve the world of the future. A future we imagine to be fairer, more equitable and human.

Megacities and their Infrastructure - MI

Coordinators: Eng. Antonio Federico and Eng. Norberto Pazos

Subchapter: Urban Settlements

President: Eng. Luciano Gronda
Vice-president: Eng. Norberto Pazos

The Subchapter addressed two topics: urban social inclusion and sustainability of megacities, both of which are closely related.

The analysis of exclusion in Latin American showed that there are more coincidences than differences, particularly the structural poverty, informal employment, unequal distribution of income, the problem of young people who do not study or work, the consequences of overcrowded homes that may bring about the beginning of addictions and then of crimes, and finally the unequal access to education and health.

Having completed the diagnosis, the Chapter pointed out the need of applying good practices so that populations deprived of a formal employment and an appropriate environment have access to them by means of explicit and clear mechanisms, in which the State should have a subsidiary role, basically through the municipalities and the articulation of the actions of affected people, public agencies and the initiatives of the organizations of the civil society. The last mentioned can participate in several ways according to their fields, from the organization of beneficiaries’ demand to achieve improvements in basic infrastructure to interdisciplinary complex actions joining science, technology and business activities to develop technological parks in urban centers in order to overcome the stagnation of their current socio-economic situations.

Special emphasis was placed on the importance of microloans that, in turn, facilitate the access to a better environment, make families commit their own effort to overcome their level of exclusion. It was also stressed that women have a relevant role in the management of those resources and that the land is important in the access to their own houses, as shown by the fact that families first get the plot of land by buying or intruding it and then they build their own place.

The topic of sustainability was addressed by experts from developed countries and a panel of professionals working in cities of developing countries.

The several lectures described similar problems in megacities as a consequence of the increased urbanization resulting from the immigration from rural areas or from less developed countries.  

At the beginning, the topic was dealt from a practical point of view with the description of examples of redevelopments of degraded districts of cities of the developed world such as Paris, and of the developing world such as Río de Janeiro, Rabat and cities of South Korea. Unoccupied railway yards (and the adjacent low areas due to connectivity difficulties) of river-sides or sea-sides were used. In these redevelopments, a variety of uses was applied and, in the case of houses, it was decided to combine units for different social sectors, with important green spaces and improvements in their connectivity.

It was also stated that all those projects were profitable in the medium term, being of key importance to their success the correct dimension of their extension and the project completion time which, in the described cases, was between 20 and 30 years.

Then, the Chapter put forward a theoretical analysis of the problems of megacities and recommendations to solve them or at least to avoid their worsening.

The need of adopting a series of political decisions to implement efficiently the recommended solutions was underlined since, for example, in the case of AMBA (Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires) and of other megacities, there are several political jurisdictions that require the will of sharing responsibilities in the form of an agreement that establishes the appointment of authorities in charge of implementing each specific policy and the way of financing the necessary investments.   

Another lecture began with a substantial question: are megacities inevitable? And the answer is that probably they are. They are the result of spontaneous processes but, at the same time, they are a key instrument in the socio-economic development since they allow reducing the birth rate, promote the diversity of the human genome, allow socio-cultural advances, favor economic concentration and create new business and job opportunities. In addition, the megacity is an environmentally solid solution although it has serious and increasing lack of functionalities: it concentrates poverty, generates deficiencies in infrastructure, gives rise to increased criminality and social disturbances, rises pollution levels, and contributes to the global warming, etc. In megacities, a modern society co-exists with poor settlements.

The positive role of megacities can be promoted by means of a design that takes into account biological, social and environmental factors or needs together with the increasing technification of the modern man, through the improvement of education, research and development, etc.

The answer to the question if the growth of megacities is controllable was: perhaps, but with a great effort. In that task, it was recommended to consider that it is not always necessary to use the latest technology but one that is good enough, to try to coordinate new initiatives with other cities to share initial development costs, to ensure employment, mobility possibilities and access to housing to all the sectors, subsidizing low-income users and not services.

It concluded by stating that the cities of the developed world are not necessarily paradigms to be imitated by cities of the developing world, but the effort to achieve the sustainability of the latter will be greater due to their differences compared to the former, i.e.: higher growth rate and environmental deterioration, lower average age of the population, shortage of financial and infrastructure resources, etc.

Subchapter: Water

President: Eng. Juan Carlos Giménez
Vice-president: Eng. Raúl Lopardo

The challenges that professionals working on water issues will face in the next years have no precedent since urban population of non-developed countries of the planet will double in the next 30 years, thus increasing from 2,000 to 4,000 million people and the urban surface will triplicate from 200,000 to 600,000 km2.

The situation is different in the most developed countries in which a moderate increase is expected, of around 150 million people in 30 years, since the 872 million urban population in 2000 is expected to reach 1015 million people by 2030.

The dramatic growth of the urban population in the developing world has and will have deep implications in the demand of drinking water, in the use and conservation of water resources, the construction of infrastructure and the supply of services related to water.  

In addition, taking into account that more than 50% of the urban population will live in cities with less than 500,000 inhabitants and 24% in cities between 1 and 5 million inhabitants, important water infrastructure and sanitation works will be necessary to maintain current levels and to achieve universal coverage within a reasonable time.

In short, the increasing degree of population concentration in large cities and the need of better water services demand engineering an also higher level of requirements.  

It is enough to think that when one opens a simple water tap, there is a great effort of engineering before and after opening it.

Historical evidence shows that, with population increase, environmental quality is degraded until it reaches a turning point in which people ask for a better environment. The dilemma is that engineers must determine the environmental levels compatible to the development level that is possible for their communities.

It is therefore an engineers’ task to change that negative vicious circle of increasing shortage of safe water that is related to the great social deficits into a virtuous circle of water which ensures the quantity and quality of drinking water and basic sanitation services, preserves and restores watercourses and manages hydrological extremes, droughts and floods, with full awareness and collaboration of the community. In addition, efforts should be optimized to obtain pacific solutions to settle possible controversies as regards the use of shared water resources.         

To complete all these actions, engineering should take into account the human need of integrating watercourses in the cities as a means of enhancing them, aimed at improving the quality of life of their inhabitants.

As regards treatments of wastewater effluents, their design should aim at minimizing their impacts as generators of greenhouse gases, by using low-energy or low-emission treatment systems or by reusing those gases to generate electric power.  

The increasing use of underwater pipelines as structural solutions for wastewater discharges in environmentally sustainable conditions for receiving watercourses is an issue of rising interest for the professional community. They are an appropriate alternative because they allow the diffusion and dilution of discharges in a great volume of water, thus taking advantage of the effect of natural depuration in the watercourse and in the body of water.

Sewerage and sanitation master plans should be designed in order to overcome the current negative process since there are different countries in which domestic sanitation services are not connected if they do not have the corresponding treatment plant.

The poorest communities are the most vulnerable to hydro-climatic extreme events due to their location in the usual course of hurricanes, typhoons and tsunamis, on unstable hillsides, in poor settlements, low-lying areas and flood-risk river valleys.

Due to the lack of an appropriate political, institutional and technological framework, engineers must work on strategies to face flood and drought hazards and risks that largely affect low-income sectors and the growing population living in areas prone to floods, landslides and droughts. The task of engineering should be aimed at implementing programs to manage extreme events, thus helping communities and cities to organize themselves to become more active in the prevention of natural disasters.       

In addition, engineers’ challenge is to optimize knowledge about water resources so as to understand better the dynamic processes that take place in soil chemistry and in climate variations, and the responses of ecosystems.

All the aforementioned aspects entail a continuous activity of engineers, with special dedication, aware of what it means to be committed to providing good water and sanitation services, as the basis for people’s health and well-being, and to reducing the vulnerability of cities in case of extreme hydro-climatic events.

Subchapter: Transport

President: Eng. Máximo Fioravanti
Vice-president: Eng. Gastón Cossettini

The Chapter was aimed at analyzing two big concerns that have a strong influence on the quality of life of people living in large metropolitan areas and that have to be particularly taken into account for the provision of the necessary infrastructure:

A –     The implications of increasing restrictions on energy worldwide, in transport policies in large cities and the new technological developments that engineering may contribute to reduce energy consumption.   

B –     Analysis of international experiences on the coordination of policies and the complementarity of transport means, particularly in cases in which there are several jurisdictions, in order to make the system more efficient, to meet the rising demand and to mitigate it.

Twenty-five interesting papers were submitted to address these issues.

Due to the great impact of transport in large cities, the Chapter set forth the need of implementing policies and measures to promote the use of technologies and transport means that allow the substitution of fossil fuels with other renewable and less polluting sources. This will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In the world, transport is responsible of the 24% of CO2 emissions, out of which 70% is caused by motor vehicles. In Latin America, statistics are even more worrisome since the contribution to pollution amounts to 35%, 90% of which is contributed by vehicle emissions. Same proportions are applicable in terms of non-renewable energy consumption. Large metropolises account for the largest percentage of the negative contribution related to the motor vehicle sector.

This explains why most opinions and papers have focused on urban public transport. There were recommendations as regards the definition of the type of vehicles and fuels for public automobile transportation, advisable for a gradual conversion of the fleet, as well as possible penalties for privately-owned vehicles due to their high GHG emissions and traffic congestion.

In the process of setting goals for sustainable urban transport, three lines of action were laid out which are not exclusive but complementary:

•    Coordinated planning of transport and land-use.
•    Changes in the participation of means of transport, favoring the railway system.
•    Improvement of vehicle operation technologies.

It will be necessary to develop a vision and strategic planning in all communities to prevent problems that arise from advancing faster than technical solutions. This requires investments which can be made by the community and by the State, agreeing on and coordinating rational policies and measures that improve transport supply, quality and efficiency in large cities as well as those that encourage the decentralization of activities.

Proposals have been made in topics such as:

•    Supply Management (tolls in central areas, high parking taxes and reduction of the areas for this use).
•    Improvement of vehicle occupancy factors.
•    Use of mass public transport.
•    Encouragement of non-motorized transport (cycling).
•    Pedestrianisation.
•    Rail transport development.
•    Substantial improvement of vehicle technology.
•    Environmental quality of fuels.

Recommended measures:

•    Extension of underground networks.
•    BRT implementation (Bus Rapid Transit) in several corridors until the underground infrastructure is built.
•    Fleet modernization (buses), through the introduction of double-articulated buses.
•    Gradual change to electric traction. Use of tramways (catenary-free in central areas).
•    Planning of lines, routes and stops of road transport means to improve the complementarity with other means.
•    Implementation of strict timetables, with increased frequencies during peak hours.  
•    Implementation of a single card to use all transport means in the area.
•    Elevation or tunneling of urban and suburban railroad lines, as appropriate for each stretch.

In spite of their high costs, underground trains are the best way of transporting a large number of passengers.

BRT seems to be a less effective option but investment costs are substantially lower.


Articulation between Urbanism and Transport

Urban growth is recommended to be developed around the railway infrastructure rather than the road infrastructure.

Land is a limited and non-renewable resource that demands an efficient use. The expansion of its use has been causing undesired ecological, economic and social consequences.

By 2025, around 75% of the world population will be living in urban areas; this will accelerate the consumption of available land surface.

If future expansion is not limited, there will be a possibility of losing quality, even in the cases of the best settlements and cultural spaces, causing afterwards serious damages to the environment.

The Subchapter supported the proposal of the network of cities: an interconnection of cities that will require the availability of high-quality and reliable transport systems for an increasingly mobile population. The railway system is supposed to be the backbone of this network.

It will be necessary to determine scenarios of national relevance where local, regional and national participants, in joint actions, allocate land-uses properly.

Megaprojects can change the economic geography of a region, increasing the accessibility and population densities and also improving substantially the social access to other leisure and job opportunities.  

The greatest challenge is to provide political and economic support during the long periods required for their implementation. In this sense, it is necessary to work on strategies for a proper communication so as to accomplish the transition objectives throughout the long period of time until completion of the megaprojects.  

An efficient management, both public and private, is therefore made relevant since, in the long run, it determines the success in the accomplishment of proposed objectives.


Transport Authorities

It has been agreed on the need of coordinating actions between the different jurisdictions involved in all large urban centers, as a suitable mechanism for a transition towards a longer period, when it will be necessary to rethink and implement solutions of administrative fusions so that all issues related to large cities have a regional scope.  

Engineering Education for Sustainable Development – EESD

8th WFEO World Congress on Engineering Education – WCE
7th Argentine Congress on Engineering Education VII – CAEDI

President: Eng. Luis Vaca Arenaza
Vice-presidents: Eng. Daniel Morano, Eng. Eduardo Vendrell Vidal

In the city of Buenos Aires, on this twentieth day of October 2010, after three days of intensive sessions, in which 46 papers were presented by representatives of several regions of the world, it is agreed that the world society is going through a historic moment, of deep changes of paradigms in all the aspects of social, political, economic, scientific, technological and environmental areas and that engineering has the obligation not only of accompanying but also of leading the necessary changes to ensure sustainable development in all and every region of the world, within the context of the Millennium Development Goals, established by the United Nations.

To achieve this, it is essential to go on advancing and to consolidate some aspects related to the education of future generations of engineers. The meetings, lectures and presentations of this Chapter have strengthened these aspects, which can be summarized in the following topics:

Educating Engineers with Systemic Vision

The engineer of the 21st century should not only be a university professional with thorough knowledge and technical and technological competences but he should also have a solid general culture, be aware in the first place of the features and needs of his region, and have a systemic overall perspective of the world so that he can apply knowledge anywhere in the world where he is required to, acting in all the cases with social solidarity, protecting the natural environment and observing basic ethical principles during the performance of his work.

In an ever-increasing global society, with growing demands of improvement, engineering has a key role as regards sustainability and environmental protection. This requires professionals with a broad and comprehensive vision of the world.

In line with this, the following objectives need to be taken into account in the education and training of future engineers:

General Objectives

•    To promote the integral, reflective and critical development of the future engineer.
•    To educate with values, universal ethical principles and understanding and respect for cultural diversity.
•    To train socially responsible engineers, committed to the environment and the sustained and sustainable development of the society in which they live.

Specific Objectives

•    To establish integration policies and actions aiming at generating spaces for interaction between the parties engaged in engineers’ education (students, teachers, graduates, professional associations, etc.) and society in each of the regions, so as to determine challenges, opportunities, risks and impacts.
•    To promote curricular greening from the perspective of sustainable development.
•    To promote the training of teachers based on a curricular design within the framework of sustainable development.
•    To favor the multi-disciplinary, cross-cutting and co-operative work of the future engineer.
•    To promote extension and transfer actions aiming at developing socially responsible work.

Ensuring Education Quality

Education quality control of engineers is a key aspect to maintain and further improve the levels already achieved by engineering and the essential basis to extend and strengthen academic and professional mobility systems.

In this sense, the following objectives are proposed:

General Objective

•    To ensure education quality in engineering careers.

Specific Objectives

•    To systematize quality control processes in the education of engineers in each country.
•    To introduce a quality culture through continuous improvement, and the regular assessment and update of the definition of educational national models.
•    To develop methodologies to assess education quality in different countries.

Fostering Early Vocations

In this context, fostering early vocations in young people is an essential tool to ensure the number of students enrolled in engineering careers and their permanence.

General Objective

•    To substantially improve science and technology education at previous learning stages.

Specific Objectives

•    To interact with the other learning stages to encourage students to choose careers related to science and technology in general and engineering in particular.
•    To develop inclusive actions to increase the access to higher studies.

Training Engineers with International Perspective

To contribute to the solution of many of the regional problems, it is necessary to train the required number of engineers, with international quality standards and with curricular strategies that favor the local and regional appropriateness of their knowledge, to collaborate with the urgent task of analyzing, identifying and describing priorities so as to study, advise, plan and make sustainable proposals in the region.

It is necessary to develop a strong mobility of teachers and graduate, postgraduate and doctoral students, promoting the value of diversity and the relevance in education and, therefore, the creation of mechanisms that favor this interaction.

General Objective

•    To create regional spaces for engineering education.
•    To promote teachers’ update as a key element for knowledge transfer.
•    To recognize academic degrees.

Specific Objectives

•    To recognize accreditation systems.
•    To foster mobility of graduate and postgraduate students and teachers.

Conclusion

In the world, there is a deficit of engineers. Technological development, infrastructure and services firms are the main demanders and the first to realize this lack and have established links with engineering schools to invest in education. People engaged in engineering education should interact with production forces so as to ensure a sustainable development that will promote the rational process of energy production and use and the necessary infrastructure works that facilitate the availability of resources, thus offering growth opportunities to goods and services sectors for a better quality of life of the social group.

In turn, society should understand that the engineer is related to growth and that the sustainable development of a region largely depends on engineers’ participation.

On the other hand, it is necessary to take into account that young engineers have a broader understanding of today’s reality and are the best communicators in fostering early vocations. Their logic of reasoning includes the use of information technologies and communications, and their importance in life.  

Consequently, it is highly advisable to create spaces for Regional Higher Education, to carry out activities of research, development and transfer of knowledge and experiences related to regional needs, to articulate efforts and initiatives with social, public and economic sectors, to encourage education quality in basic and medium levels, and to introduce in engineering education programs such aspects as: promotion of an entrepreneur culture, continuous reflection on the social responsibility of engineers and on environmental and social impacts of professional practice. This is a challenge that we should take on and it is a joint obligation of states, universities and social and business organizations.

Engineers’ participation in institutions and associations that represent them is of key importance. They should play the role of being the dynamic and driving force of their up-to-date situation, participating in their decision-making processes and future strategies and providing their engineering perspective.

The education of highly-qualified engineers must be consolidated with the effort of all the parties involved, as a necessary condition for the solution of needs, deficiencies and weaknesses. In this way, engineers will be able to promote equity and social well-being, to favor the objectives of competitiveness and innovation to contribute to development and to protect the biodiversity of ecosystems and natural resources of our planet, basically respecting cultural diversity. On the other hand, engineers should and must participate actively in the society in order to facilitate the understanding of their actions and the construction of a world of measurable welfare. Governments and universities should be able to dynamize and activate students’ participation by means of methodologies that imply a better learning in line with the real society and the needs of the industry instead of being a mere transfer of knowledge from professor to students. They should foster the development of initiatives and of an entrepreneurial mindset. Education should put an emphasis on the importance of engineering in the solutions of problems, both the global ones and those which we face every day. WFEO should take on the responsibility of supporting and promoting activities through international networks of cooperation and good practice exchange towards the establishment of global minimum standards for education.  

Professional Practice of Engineering - PPE

President: Eng. Gustavo Darín
Vice-presidents: Eng. Hugo Chevez and Eng. Alejandro Pérez Vargas

The Chapter analyzed different aspects of engineers’ professional practice, working independently as consultants or entrepreneurs of new firms, as employees of already existing organizations, producers of goods and services, or in technical agencies or departments at the different levels of national governments or international institutions.

Engineers’ actions have a wide impact on society, the environment and the historical and cultural heritage of humanity.

Engineers should therefore carry out their work in favor of the public interest, protecting people’s health and safety and contributing to the sustainable human development of their communities. An increased participation of women in engineering should be fostered, thus providing a perspective that enhances project quality.    

It is important that society controls engineers’ performance properly. Engineers’ actions need to be controlled in advance so as to avoid that wrong actions or decisions bring about serious, difficult and irreparable consequences.

The control in advance can only be done by means of an analysis of engineers’ professional competence, i.e. checking that they have a high-level academic education and ethical behavior, a full awareness of the limits of their professional skills, and a continuous experience of professional activities and of knowledge acquisition and update.

This control must be carried out by professional pairs, who are the ones in the best position to assess the conducts and actions of their colleagues, i.e. by Associations of Professional Control, of public nature due to their mission but independent from governments. Therefore, these institutions should not act in favor of engineers’ interests but they should safeguard the interests of society, protecting safety, health and sustainable human development, among others. Consequently, Associations of Professional Control should encourage and demand the highest professional skills and the highest ethical values of engineers.

And this will also be a good way of helping engineers since they will receive the recognition and trust of their community.

It is clear that the engineering profession is of public interest, but it is much more important and essential that it be a profession of public trust. This trust is also necessary for the engineering profession itself to be sustainable.

It was a general opinion of the Chapter that engineers should update a continuous training throughout their professional life to keep or improve their competences. Today’s reality demands a regular updating for a competent professional practice. If they fail to do so, and taking into account the increasing pace of technological changes, engineers will probably become easily-worn out professionals.

Papers on the topic agreed on the fact that university or polytechnic graduate degrees should only certify academic education and that professional certification should be granted by organizations independent of the academic system of professional education.

It is therefore important for the society, and also for engineers, to have independent and unbiased Associations of Professional Control to grant post-academic certifications. These associations should have a relevant participation in the determination of engineers’ competences.

As part of their mission of controlling at the service of society, it was agreed that these institutions should also:

- Promote the approval of codes of conduct that establish a proper ethical framework for engineers’ professional practice for the benefit of public interest.

- Observe the compliance with all engineers’ professional duties according to the codes of conduct.

- Assess and punish fairly and equitably any infringement of the rules governing professional practice.

-  Promote an appropriate supply of engineering services as regards quality and quantity to meet growth and development needs and wishes of societies.

- Control that engineers receive reasonable remuneration for their services to encourage and contribute to improving their quality.  

There was also agreement that the world is increasingly moving towards a global market of engineering services and that, consequently, it is necessary to adapt to a situation of growing professional mobility with the purpose of improving the economic competitiveness of the regions and, therefore, their local development.

The recognition of engineers’ competences with degrees granted by different countries is one of today’s main concerns of professional associations that may or may not limit professional practice. So it is important to establish systems so as to know better the courses of studies and requirements in each country and make equitable agreements that promote engineers’ international mobility and safeguard professional practice in developing countries.

Improving quality of life and reducing poverty are unquestionable objectives in line with the Millennium Development Goals but they may have negative effects on environmental quality. Actions to mitigate environmental damages and compensation measures according to people’s values and expectations are therefore necessary and this requires engineers with good knowledge of environmental problems and solutions and strong ethical values.

The Chapter agreed on the proposal that, in case of controversies, engineers should give ethical priority to society, then subsequently to the environment, the profession, clients and, finally, to colleagues.   
.  
Professional ethics has become a priority issue in an increasing number of national and international organizations and it was proposed to specifically include its study in engineering careers, as well as the criteria of professional social responsibility.

Corruption is a scourge that sterilizes a large number of resources of the communities that could be used to reduce poverty, protect people’s health and improve infrastructure for a better quality of life. In this sense, the Chapter explicitly stated its support to the efforts of the many national and international institutions to eradicate corruption and to the contribution to this objective of organizations such as Transparency International, the Global Infrastructure Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC), the World Bank, the World Justice Forum, etc.

The Chapter also decided to submit to the consideration of WFEO, national governments and international organizations the need of increasing the actions aimed at studying the problems related to corruption and at implementing the measures to combat corruption in its many types.  

Finally, the Chapter highlighted that engineering is a profession capable of transforming physical and social characteristics. The world has the challenge of advancing towards new models of sustainable development.

To make this transformation come true, it is essential to build the pillars of the physical, social and economic infrastructure of the communities, reducing poverty, increasing social capital and protecting the environment.

Engineering professionals play a key role in this new perspective since they have to turn knowledge into social progress, as agents for the construction of a new world agenda, with a model of inclusive sustainable development.