Annual Report 2008 - IVA

engineering sciences as
a positive force for the future
It’s an exciting time to be the new President of the Royal Swedish Academy
of Engineering Sciences, IVA. When I took over in the summer of 2008, I knew
that my tenure as President would involve great challenges – for me and the
Academy. Here at the Academy we can do our part by taking on the challenges
that exist in creating new energy systems and meeting the need for new solutions
in the transportation sector. We can also play an active role in finding
formulas to make the best possible use of Sweden’s strong position in IT and
Internet services. We also need to help strengthen innovation in the growing
global competition.
But i couldn’t imagine as i took up my post that
the changes in the global economy would be
so swift and drastic. our Academy, however,
has the potential to assist in the task of finding
practical solutions to many of the challenges
we face.
if we look at past experiences – both in
ancient and modern history – the engineering
sciences have a very good track record in
creating solutions to meet people’s needs in a
growing world. when stockholm had 60,000
residents in the mid-1700s, the city was viewed
as over-populated and an unhealthy place to
live. Today we have more than 10 times the
number of people in the city and many times
more in the region. now the biggest problem
seems to be keeping up with construction of
new housing for those who want to move
here. Better communications, effective water
purification and modern buildings have made
this metropolis an attractive environment in
which to live.
engineers work in the service of mankind
and the engineering sciences are therefore no
better from a moral standpoint than humanity
in general. This means that sometimes technologies
are created that have unfortunate, even
tragic consequences. we all have a responsibility
to ensure that creativity and knowledge in
our field contribute to sustainable and peaceful
development. democracy and an open debate
give us hope that this is possible. here, ivA can
contribute by creating forums where people
with different skills and opinions can discuss important
issues affecting the future. within ivA it
has always been permitted to question and put
forward ideas and suggestions, even when they
are not fully developed. This is and will remain
one of the Academy’s important functions.
in 2008 we were all affected by economic
uncertainty and gloomy forecasts. for the engineering
sciences and not least for ivA, this situation
means that the demands on creativity are
going to be tough. ivA will act on a broad front
to meet these demands, both with traditional
means and in entirely new ways. in two important
areas – energy and transportation – ivA
launched new, large and ambitious projects in
autumn 2008 that will aim to create a strong
foundation for sweden’s eu Presidency in Autumn
2009. Thanks to the considerable trust
that ivA has built up over the years, we have
been able to attract people of excellence to
this project, like many others. As a meeting
place and catalyst for sweden’s leading engineers,
economists and entrepreneurs, we have
a unique ability to stimulate development in
technology and the social sciences. These may
be lofty words, and they mean we have an even
4
loftier responsibility. i can promise, however, that
we will approach our duties with humility.
in one particularly important area sweden
needs to make a clear change if we are to
build a creative future in the longer term. we
need to find ways to improve recruitment to
engineering education where application levels
are alarmingly low. i am convinced that the
engineering community needs to demonstrate
good examples to attract young people who
are thinking about their future. studies usually
show that young people want to work with
people, and this is expressed in particular by
young women. Technical sciences and engineering
are today marketed in such a way that they
can easily be perceived as introverted or even
problem creators. This is particularly true of iT,
an area that needs to attract many more young
people to its education programmes. we need
to show the reality where engineers instead use
their creativity and expertise to solve problems
and improve the quality of life for people. if you
want to save the world, become an engineer!
development towards a creative future
where engineering is a strong and positive force
is what ivA wants to drive and market – not
only to young people, but to all parts of society.
This is a challenge, but a very stimulating one –
both for me and for ivA.
Professor Björn o. nilsson,
President