Wednesday 4 March marked the first ever World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development – an occasion celebrated by Engineers Australia Canberra in interactive fashion.

The day, recognised by UNESCO, raises awareness of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, recognises engineering achievements to deliver on the SDGs and inspires students to choose a career that will be part of creating a better world.

It was on Engineers Australia’s online platform EAXchange where the ACT’s Chief Engineer, Adrian Piani, hosted an All Member Open Forum where he fielded more than two dozen sustainability-related questions live.

Piani, a Past Chair of the Engineers Australia Environmental College and former Engineers Australia representative on the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC), responded to members for an hour in this unique “Ask an Expert” session.

Engineers Australia’s General Manager for Canberra, Kiri Robbie, said it was a timely opportunity for members to connect with the ACT’s Chief Engineer.

“We are fortunate and thankful to have a Chief Engineer that’s committed and passionate about the environment and sustainable development,” said Robbie.

“Adrian continues to generously volunteer his time and energy in this space, not only for the benefit of engineers, but for the whole community.”

Plenty of ground was covered throughout the interactive conversation, with several questions answered including the likes of:

• Is sustainability and environmental awareness the future for engineers? How can we become champions of sustainability?
• What is Australia's federal and state governments plan to recycle and dispose of the toxic wastes associated with clean energy technologies?
• What is the outlook and support for commercial scale hydrogen production and transport given that economic scale hydrogen production relies on fossil fuel sources to produce?
• Moving to a net zero carbon society is more likely to involve a series of step changes rather than a linear progression. What are some of the early steps that engineers should be both taking and supporting?

If you’d like to know the answers to these questions and others, please log into EAXchange and click on ‘All Member Open Forum’.

We’d like to thank Adrian Piani for giving his time to engage with our members and celebrate this important day.