Sustainability in Engineering: Challenges and Paradigm Shifts

Running head: SUSTAINABILITY IN ENGINEERING
SUSTAINABILITY IN ENGINEERING
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1SUSTAINABILITY IN ENGINEERING
There are increasing requirements of engineers to play the role of the leadership in the
sustainable development, and in overcoming the global challenges like the rapid population
growth, resource depletion, environmental population and damages to the ecosystem. The
engineering achievements are developed from the 20th century without the consideration of the
impacts of economic, social and environmental condition. On considering the present problems
that our planet facing, the engineers need to revisit their mindset by adopting the new mission
statement for building the more stable, equitable and the sustainable conditions of the world
(Barth, and Michelsen, 2013). Engineers also need to adopt the different attitude to the cultural
and the natural systems by reconsidering the interactions between the engineering disciplines,
non-technical fields and the society. This requires the most important paradigm change from the
nature control to the contribution along with the nature, the awareness of the ecosystem,
ecosystem services and the restoration and the preservation of the nature capital. Most of the
engineering attainments of the past were established without considering the social, commercial
and the ecological impacts of the natural systems. The engineers needs to maximize the value of
the activity towards building the sustainable world (Reay, Ramshaw, and Harvey, 2013).
Haapala, K.R., Zhao, F., Camelio, J., Sutherland, J.W., Skerlos, S.J., Dornfeld, D.A., Jawahir, I.S.,
Clarens, A.F. and Rickli, J.L., 2013. A review of engineering research in sustainable
manufacturing. Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 135(4), p.041013.
Sustainable manufacturing requires the simultaneous consideration of the ecological, economic
and the social inferences associated with the production and the delivery of goods. The
sustainable business depends on the progressive decision-making, descriptive metrics and the
public policy for the application, assessment and the feedback. This study explores the ideas,
methods and tools required for the sustainable business. The engineering research study