Engineering has made a bigger impact on society than most of us may be aware of. In fact, almost every new development or breakthrough that you can think of has most likely had a team of engineers behind it to make it happen. Engineers have completely changed the world that we live in from bridges, space travel, autonomous cars, the latest mobile technology, and even modern homes with heating and water systems. Innovation and creative thinking are right at the heart of everything that engineers do and get involved in, and they use their vast technical skills and knowledge to create new, exciting prospects for the world and solve a wide range of problems – many of which you might not have even realized you had.

Hundreds of industries around the world have benefited from the work of engineers, and this has had a significant impact on how we live and enjoy life as a whole. Without engineers, modern life as we know it with all our gadgets, comfortable homes, and transportation options would simply not be possible. So, how exactly have engineers impacted the world?

Health

The health industry is one in particular which has definitely benefited a lot from engineering. Today, the health industry has a lot of life-saving, cutting-edge equipment that makes it possible to cure disease and prolong lives in a way that would have been impossible just a few decades ago. These advances are solely down to engineers and without them, health professionals would simply not be able to achieve the excellent success rates that they do today when treating patients. Engineering has made it possible to understand and treat the medical issues that today’s societies face.

Technology

Think about all the technology you use every day – whether it’s your laptop, iPhone, your smart TV, smart heating system, or even a smart refrigerator, the fact that we’ve got these things available to us today is all down to engineers. Engineers are behind the huge rates of growth in the technology that has advanced with every generation. Thanks to engineers, we can now access huge amounts of information right at our fingertips and have access to gadgets and machines that offer greater levels of convenience as we go about our daily lives.

Communication

Thanks to the massive technological advances brought about by engineering, the ways that we communicate with one another have massively improved due to engineers. Unlike in the past were sending a letter in the mail or making an expensive telephone call were your only options, modern society now has a huge range of options for getting in touch with people at any time, in any part of the world. Software engineers are behind the huge variety of apps available for video and voice calling over the internet which effectively allows people to contact others in different countries free of charge. As a result, this has massively changed the way that we do business and has helped to keep families and friends in touch.

Space Travel

In the past, visiting space may have been simply a dream – but thanks to engineers, it has now become a reality. The International Space Station is the biggest and most complex science project in history and allows engineers, scientists, and analysts from all around the world to collaborate together and conduct research that could not be done on earth to find answers to questions that have been left a mystery for centuries.

Transport

Thanks to engineers, we’re no longer making our way from A to B by means of horse and cart or taking a ship across the seas to get to other countries. Today, travel is quick and convenient compared to in the past with plenty of options to get to where you need to be quickly and safely. Most people drive, which has opened up even more opportunities for work and travel, and thanks to engineering, international travel has never been more accessible to everybody as it is right now with thousands of flights taking to the skies every day. And, when it comes to travel, engineers are still working on more developments that are set to change the way we get around in the future. Autonomous cars, for example, are becoming increasingly popular and are set to completely transform the way that we drive. Click here to learn more about current developments in self-driving cars and expectations for the future.

The Environment

There’s no denying that modern life is having a huge impact on the environment and engineers are working hard behind the scenes to reduce these effects and dramatically change how the way we live impacts the planet that we live on. Renewable energy such as solar panels and wind energy is currently booming and breakthroughs in renewable technology are not only driving down the cost of energy for businesses and individuals but also helping to improve the impact on the environment and providing regular people with more eco-friendly options for living.

Safety

Last but not least, engineers have worked hard to ensure that the world is a safer place to be. Today, modern engineering must follow a very strict code of ethics in order to make sure that the projects worked on are safe for the end-user. Whether they are constructing buildings and structures such as bridges, designing train lines and locomotives to expand a city’s transportation system, or working on devices for users to use at homes such as computers, smart gadgets, smartphones, and televisions, engineers must work with safety at the forefront of their mind at all times and projects go through extensive testing before release to ensure that the end-product is safe to use. Today, we can certainly trust and rely on modern engineers to keep people safe no matter which project they are undertaking.

Many of the things that we now take for granted in modern life like our smartphones, laptops, cars, and the ability to get a flight to any country that we like have all been made possible by engineers.