ENGINEERING SINGAPORE’S GREEN FUTURE

Celebrating World Engineering Day through sustainability innovation at the Science Centre

4 March 2023 marked the day of the inaugural IES Green Festival, which was jointly organised by IES and Science Centre Singapore in celebration of the World Engineering Day (WED) for Sustainable Development.

Curated alongside the WED 2023 theme “Engineering Innovation for a more Resilient World”, the Festival attracted some 500 students and members of the public in attendance.

WED, proclaimed by UNESCO in 2019, celebrates engineering and the contribution of engineers for a better, sustainable world. Through various interactive and fun-filled activities, the IES Green Festival 2023 provided opportunities for attendees to learn and explore engineering possibilities for a sustainable future.

Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment, Dr Amy Khor, graced the event as guest-of-honour, where she engaged the audience on sustainability issues in the Singapore context during her fireside chat, moderated by Mr Aditya Kumar, President of the IES-NTU Student Chapter.

An interactive exhibition showcase by various IES Student Chapters from NTU, SUTD, the Temasek, Nanyang, Ngee Ann, and Singapore Polytechnics, as well as ITE College East, wowed attendees with their ingenious demonstrations of their innovative and sustainable solutions.

The Sustainability Drones Challenge by IES-SUTD attracted curious festival-goers, particularly families with young children, to challenge themselves in planning the most efficient flight path on a ‘map’ featuring the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. This in turn helped to raise awareness of the UN SDGs.

Active participation was encouraged throughout the entire event, of which the Bicycle Dynamo

Challenge proved to be the most popular. Participants lit up “W.E.D” alphabets (signifying World Engineering Day) using the accumulated power generated from pedalling three bicycles.

The last leg of the ‘journey’ was accomplished by IES Green Festival Organising Committee Chairman Dr Boh Jaw Woei, IES President Dalson Chung, and Science Centre Singapore Chief Executive Associate Professor Lim Tit Meng, to cheers and applause from the crowd.

IES Vice President for Professional Engagement, Ms Jasmine Foo, and

Science Educator Kripa Rajkumar Naidu, were also on hand to introduce the Green Trivia Challenge where participants trailed their way around the space looking for the questions posed. The winners walked away with Starbucks Gift Cards worth $50 each and earned points towards the Young Engineer and Young Sustainability Champion badge programmes.

Tech Talks on Future Green Technologies and Innovation for a Sustainable Future

Executive Chairman of HOPE Technik, Mr Peter Ho, warmed up the Festival’s Tech Talks segment, introducing food-for-thought ideas on sustainability and paving the way for a net-zero world through engineering. Mr Atem S Ramsundersingh, Founder, CEO and Board Director of WEnergy Global, followed next, inspiring the audience with thought-provoking insights on green technology, encouraging everyone to become “future-neers” (future engineers) of the world.

The Green Nation Pledge Festival attendees were also encouraged to take the Green Nation Pledge, an initiative of the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, to become active participants in helping to make Singapore a green, liveable and climate-resilient home. A digital map of Singapore was filled with images of many committed pledge-takers by the end of the festival.

Signing of MOU with Persatuan Insinyur Indonesia (PII)

On the sidelines of the Festival, IES signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Persatuan Insinyur Indonesia (PII; the Institution of Engineers Indonesia), to further strengthen the professional relationship between both parties. IES and PII agreed to collaborate on business community cooperation, internship exchanges, technical visits, and mutual support in engineering MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) events.

Streamed live on the WED Global Stream

The IES Green Festival 2023 represented Singapore on the 24-hour Live WED Global Stream, along with other high-profile events, interviews with thought leaders

and discussions on key engineering topics.

The live stream also announced the winners of the 2023 WED Hackathon, and presentations by the finalists showcasing the use of theoretical knowledge in a fast-paced simulation of a real-world project, with teams from Temasek Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechnic among the selected finalists from Singapore.

IES wishes to extend its deepest gratitude to all sponsors, Institutes of Higher Learning, and green partners for their support for the IES Green Festival 2023.