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After looking back at the rich history of the IMechE, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary, he considered recent developments in the power generation sector before reflecting on how the industry can set itself up to tackle future challenges.
New digital technologies and techniques will mean cosmic change for engineering in the coming decades, he said. “It’s engineering Jim, but not as we know it. It will look quite, quite different…
“We have seen such a tremendous change in engineering over the last 175 years of the institution. We’ve been through effectively four industrial revolutions, we’re now in the digital revolution, Industry 4.0 effectively, where really the sky is the limit... There are so many engineering challenges out there that we can now potentially find solutions for, taking the digital manufacturing and digital solutions that we have available to us now.”
One particular set of challenges – and a potential future solution to ‘net zero’ challenges – is nuclear fusion, Peel said. While hurdles remain, he said that commercial use is approaching.
“We’re getting ever closer,” he said. “It’s an exciting time for the industry, and there are certainly future developments that will bring us closer to seeing the reality, hopefully within my lifetime, of seeing fusion as a power and energy source for the future.”
Read more: 4 key messages from Advanced Manufacturing 2022
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.