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Editorial

 

Global Cooling: Can Carbon Dioxide Be Turned to Concrete?

Engineers are constantly coming up with new ways to dispose of greenhouse gases. The latest idea is to hide carbon dioxide exhaust in cement. The method could revolutionize one of the most carbon-intensive industries in the world.
A little more than a year ago, Vinod Khosla received an e-mail. What it contained, in its 12 lines of text, was exactly the sort of thing this immensely wealthy philanthropist likes to read. I have an idea for sustainable cement, Brent Constantz, a chemistry professor, wrote. His idea was to convert the carbon dioxide emissions from a power plant into cement, thereby rendering the gas harmless.
The 53-year-old Indian from Silicon Valley has already invested $450 million of his personal fortune in new technologies to save mankind and the planet.
Constantz theorizes that when the carbon dioxide is combined with the magnesium and calcium dissolved in the water, the resulting substance will be something mankind uses in vast quantities: cement. Chemically speaking, the same thing happens in coral when it grows, says Constantz, who originally developed a type of cement used to repair bone fractures and in dental applications. This reaction with seawater would benefit the climate, because the carbon dioxide from emissions would be incorporated into the carbonate. Then heat from the power plant would be used to dry the mud-like material. We get the smallest bricks that can be used to make cement, says Constantz.
In this way, power plants, which normally eject carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, could be turned into carbon sinks. On the one hand, the CO2 they produce would be rendered harmless. On the other hand, they would eliminate the energy-intensive production of brick in the cement industry. One ton of my cement removes half a ton of CO2 from the environment, claims Constantz , who is also a visiting professor at Stanford University .
The concrete industry produces more than two billion tons of cement worldwide each year. In doing so, it releases 5 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted worldwide, making it the third-largest single producer of the greenhouse gas. The industry's large carbon footprint is a result of energy-intensive production processes, which include temperatures of 1450 degrees Celsius to bake the raw materials and the use of electric motors to pulverize the resulting cement bricks.
Meanwhile, a new company, which is called Calera, has built a prototype plant on a site next to a gas-fired power plant in Moss Landing, California. In his new laboratory, Chemist Constantz is studying ways to siphon off a portion of the carbon dioxide released by the plant and conduct it through sea water from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Constantz expects to have five prototype plants up and running by next year, and the first commercial model by 2010.
Other ideas designed to eliminate greenhouse gases also have yet to pass the practical test. Many engineers, physicists and chemists around the world are currently developing ways to sequester carbon dioxide. Research institutes in the United States, in particular, a country where the belief in technical feasibility is especially pronounced, are constantly coming up with new proposals. www.spiegel.de

WFEO News

International workshop on
the role of civil engineers in Infrastructure Development
in Developing Countries

WFEO Tunis Office hosted from 16 to 20 August 2008 a visit to Tunisia made by engineering delegates made up of the American Society of Civil Engineers' leadership and members of the World Council of Civil Engineers. Several events were held in conjunction with the visit, including an international workshop on infrastructure. David Mongan, President of the ASCE and José Medem, President of the WCCE gave the key note speeches addressing respectively such important issues as Civil Engineering: a vision for 2025 and Present and Future Activities of Civil Engineers in Spain and on WCCE activities. Pat Natale ASCE Executive Director gave a presentation about engineering and leadership.


Press conference 19.8.08 Tunis

The participants visited after the workshop some large scale infrastructure projects in Tunis, particularly project developed by the Tunisian National Solidarity Fund as part of the policy of Tunisian Government in poverty eradication.The Solidarity Fund was created in 1992. Since then it promoted living conditions for 256000 families providing them with all needed facilities such as housing, safe drinking water supply, sewerage, health facilities, schools etc. Participants visited also an important cable stayed bridge in construction.
The African Trip of ASCE President and ASCE Executive Director to South Africa, Egypt and Tunisia aimed to meet with ASCE members and civil engineering counterparts in those countries to explore ways to further civil engineering information exchange and strengthen the societies through mutual initiatives. Download: Workshop_Aug2008_Presentations.doc  

IAS-UNESCO Symposium

Third History of Islamic Science, Technology and Innovation Conference (ISSTI III), 27 August 2008 , Kazan State University , Kazan , Tatarstan , Russia: Past WFEO President Lee Yee-Cheong initiated and promoted the History of Islamic Science Technology and Innovation Symposium (ISSTI) with UNESCO and the Islamic-World Academy of Sciences-IAS.
Read the Presentation : 16th IAS Conference ISSTI 3.doc

WFEO Technical Standing Committees News

 

Committee on Anti-Corruption

International Workshop to address corruption in the construction industry: Brasilia 1st December 2008: Workshop that will be organized by the WFEO Standing Committee on Anti-Corruption on the first of December in conjunction with the World Engineers Convention 2008. Several presentations will be given at this event including, and for the first time participants of the WEC2008 are cordially invited to take part in the international DVD Movie Show Ethicana , a drama relating a variety of difficult decisions encountered by engineers, consultants, contractors, suppliers and lenders involved in construction projects. The second session will be dedicated to the presentation of regional and countries reports and initiatives, particularly reports from Africa , Australia , and the United Kingdom . Other speakers representing respectively the Fluor and World Bank's Integrity Unit are expected to address the workshop. Kamel Ayadi, the founding chairman of the Committee on Anti-Corruption will update the participants on the current and future initiatives to be promoted by his committee. This announce is an invitation for participation in the workshop. Participants are requested to confirm by sending an email to:kayadi@planet.tn. The program of the workshop can be downloaded here: Workshop on Anti-Corruption_Brasilia_wec2008.pdf

Committee on Engineering and Environment-CEE

Tokyo hosted on September 2008 the WFEO-JFES-JSCE Joint Symposium on Disaster Risk Management scheduled in the program activity of the WFEO-CEE to address Water-Related Disaster Risk Management and Earthquake Disaster Risk Management.
This Symposium is the second organized by The World Federation of Engineering Organizations, WFEO and other relevant organizations in Japan in the international program of Japan Society of Civil Engineers, JSCE's National Assembly Congress. The theme of the first in 2007 was on River Restoration . The theme of the second is on Disaster Risk Management.
The Symposium was held on September, 11th at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan and organized by WFEO, Japan Federation of Engineering Societies, JFES (WFEO's Associate Member) and JSCE under support of Science Council of Japan, SCJ (WFEO's National Member). The Task Group on Disaster Risk Management in Standing Committee on Engineering and the Environment, CEE in WFEO was secretariat of the Symposium.
The Symposium brought together 13 papers on seismic and water related disasters and their measures, and more than 50 participants from 11 countries (Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam).
Mr. Barrry J Grear AO, President WFEO in his keynote lecture introduced WFEO's activities and engineering responsibility before, during and after disaster, particularly highlighted the importance of the prevention and recovery phases with his practical experiments in Southern Australia . This symposium introduced some main disaster features in the 2008 Sichuan Great Earthquake and the 2007 Super Cyclone SIDR, and the technological restoration and recovery support activities of Interdisciplinary Liaison Council led by JSCE and the suggestions for future surge storm measures in Bangladesh respectively. The main points of SCJ's proposal on adaptation to water-related disasters induced by global climate change were also presented. The practices of seismic risk assessment in Taiwan and recent researches on seismic performance based on full-scale excitation tests and retrofitting with carbon reinforced plastics of bridge columns were introduced respectively.
Besides the presentations in the Symposium, some researches and practical experiments on measures for floods and tsunamis from Bangladesh , Canada and Japan were also edited in its proceedings. The contents, discussion results and recommendations in the Symposium are certainly useful for the Task Group on Disaster Risk Management.
This symposium brought together more speakers, researchers and engineers than the first. It is expected as a hopeful catalyst for larger scale joint symposiums between WFEO and other organizations around the world in the future on disaster risk management that is globally interested in.
Program and Proceedings of the Symposium are available to download here:
DRM Report of Symposium.pdf
DRM Symposium Contents.pdf
DRM_Keynote Lectures&Earthquake Disasters.pdf
DRM_Water-Related Disasters.pdf
Briefs_WFEO_SCJ_JFES_JSCE.pdf
JFES e-News No 6.pdf

Roundtable Meeting on Who Constructed It? - Civil Engineer's Revisualization of Public's Acknowledgement of Civil Engineers' Achievements.
The meeting discussed how to explore effective and innovating approaches to strengthening civil engineers' professional pride and sense of responsibility and regaining the public trust and appreciation for their efforts and creations. WFEO President Barry J Grear delivered a presentation on Civil Engineering Practice and contributed with his experience on global activities.
The panellists were Presidents of WFEO, JSCE, Korean Society of Civil Engineers (KSCE), National President of Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) and delegates from Chinese Institute of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering (CICHE) and JSCE Chapters in Indonesia , Korea and Mongolia and other JSCE's members.

WFEO Members' News

The 138th Annual ASCE Civil Engineering Conference. Engineering:The Workforce of the Future, November 6-8, 2008 , Pittsburgh , PA , USA.
The conference includes an ASCE International Program November 5-6, 2008, entitled: Responding to Climate Change – The Role of the Engineer.
How the impacts of climate change will require civil engineers to consider adaptation to design and construction, Informative sessions, International Roundtable with World Bank expert about preparing for the Impacts of Climate Change. Video training project of the Global Anti-Corruption Education and Training Initiative (Global ACET).
Download the International program November 5-6, 2008
Main program November 6-8, 2008

The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World's (TWAS) 25th Anniversary Celebration: The Academy's 19th General Meeting and 25th Anniversary Celebration are scheduled to take place in Mexico City from 10 to 13 November 2008. Highlights of the meeting and celebration will include a series of Jubilee Lectures given by such eminent scientists as Mario Molina (Nobel Laureate, Chemistry 1995), Martin Rees (Craaford Prize Winner 2005), Harold Varmus (Nobel Laureate, Physiology or Medicine 1989) and Srinivasa R.S. Varadhan (Abel Prize Winner 2007); a wide-ranging series of symposia focusing, for example, on genes and human health, the state of mathematics, the growth of the knowledge economy in the developing world, megacities in the South, nanoscience, physics, and climate change; a ministerial forum examining strategies for enhancing South-South cooperation in science, technology and innovation; and a half-day symposium on the state of science and technology in Mexico. In addition, there will be formal ceremonies honouring prize and medal winners followed by lectures by the winners describing their award-winning work and scientific lectures by TWAS Young Affiliates showcasing their research. TWAS business, committee and council meetings will precede the four-day event. www.twas.org

UK Anti-Corruption Forum: The Forum is holding an anti-corruption workshop in London on 17 October 2008 entitled Corporate Anti-Corruption Actions. The Workshop will examine: gifts, hospitality and facilitation payments; due diligence; internal monitoring and whistle blowing; and crisis management. The purpose of the Workshop will be to exchange ideas on how best to deal at corporate level with some of the key challenges in this area. Forum members and non-members are welcome.The Programme and Registration Form are available at: http://www.anticorruptionforum.org.uk/acf/news

Innovative Approaches on Sustainable Development: In an effort to bolster the leadership and training of development practitioners, the Earth Institute at the US Columbia University is convening a group of 19 eminent scholars and practitioners from a variety of disciplines in a year-long Commission on Education for International Development Professionals. Launched in early 2007, the Commission aims to identify practical initiatives to support an emerging field of cross-disciplinary sustainable development practice.
WFEO Past President Lee Yee Cheong is engaged in this Commission that will integrate engineering and technology into a revolutionary Master of Development Practice Programme that emphasizes Practice. Engineering is particularly important in WEHAB (Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture and Biodiversity) in sustainable development.
On January 22, 2008 the Commission, in partnership with the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL), launched a global course entitled: Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Development Practice as a first effort to integrate cross-disciplinary components of sustainable development education. Some 240 students from 11 universities around the world participated in a learning program involving classroom, online and research activities providing students with a diverse curriculum focused on core issues of sustainable development.
The use of low cost ICT for the global classroom linking 11 institutions across 12 time zones was a most exciting experiment. This can only improve in linking institutions and professionals in a global network for sustainable development that focuses on result driven practice on the ground. Read more:
•  Commission On Education For International Development Professionals_2008-Background.pdf
•  Commission Education Global Classroom Energy Presentation 9 September 2008.pdf

European Society for Engineering Education, SEFI: The SEFI General Assembly 2008 elected Mrs. Anette Kolmos, University of Aalborg (DK), Professor in Engineering Education, as its President-Elect 2008-2009. Prof. Kolmos will automatically succeed Prof. Steinbach, TU Berlin, at the end of the latter's mandate. www.sefi.be

Engineering Council of South Africa-ESCA: CEO OF ECSA Passes Away

Prof Ravi Nayagar, CEO of the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), passed away on 22 August 2008 after a short illness. Prof Nayagar joined ECSA in 2004 as Director: Strategic Development and Transformation, and was promoted to CEO on 1 March 2006

 

The Bahrain Society of engineers: Passing of WFEO Vice President Hisham Shihabi : It is with profound sorrow that I advise the WFEO family of the death of Hisham A malik Al Shehabi. I met Hisham when we both attended our first General Assembly in Madrid in 1999. Hisham gave untiringly of his time and expertise to WFEO.
On behalf of you all we send our condolences to his beloved wife Aysha, his sons and wider family.
As Vice President of WFEO Committee on Education and Training and Elected Vice President of WFEO he undertook all tasks with intellectual excellence and great professionalism.
Our deep sadness is greater because we remember him as a kind man with a ready smile and an infectious wit, a person who had a happy heart ands poke about his family a lot. Hisham was one with whom many of us felt a personal friendship. He was held in highest regard and was the epitome of what WFEO is all about.
To his Arab colleagues we also acknowledge the enthusiasm with which he represented you all.
May his God accept our appreciation of him and recognize the collective grief we share in his passing.
Barry J Grear AO
President

Forthcoming Events 


The 3rd China-ASEAN ICT Week: 22-26 October, 2008 Nanning & Guilin, uangxi, China: to further promote mutual understanding and cooperation between China and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in the filed of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and to strengthen their ICT cooperative partnership for common development. The 1st and 2nd China-ASEAN ICT weeks were held in 2005 and 2006 in China and Malaysia respectively. WFEO Past President Dato Lee Cheong, Chairman Governing Board, UNESCO STI Centre for South-South Cooperation (ISTIC), is organising a China-ASEAN Forum on Science, Engineering and Technology for Natural Disaster Mitigation Planning and Relief as part of the 3rd China-ASEAN ICT Week. As far as ICT is concerned, the focus will be:
• The maintenance of emergency communications throughout disaster incident.
• The use of media to provide up to date information on disaster relief efforts to bolster morale both in disaster areas and outside disaster areas.
• Disaster awareness propagation in schools and for the public at large.
http://eng.caexpo.org/port/ICT/t20080602_79622.html


Workshop: FIDIC Conditions of Contracts for Construction Projects & Claims Analysis: 12-15 October 2008, Bahrain : Organized by The Bahrain Society of Engineers, the Seminar goals are to provide attendants (attendees) with an overview of the latest versions of FIDIC ( International Federation of Consulting Engineers) contracts, namely FIDIC 1999 contracts for construction projects. A background shall be presented as to the development of FIDIC Contracts and how and why the previous versions have been updated. www.mohandis.org

8th Eurafric-Partners Forum on Water & Energy in Africa 21-24 October 2008,Lyon, France: ADEA (Economic Development Agency toward Africa) organizes this annual meeting of the European and African Small & Medium-Sized Businesses that includes Conferences, Round Tables, Workshops, qualified meetings B to B, exhibition area,and visits of industrial sites. This year, the Guest Country will be the Republic of The Congo. Information and registration at : www.eurafric.org

The 5th Congress of Scientific Research Outlook & Technology Development in the Arab World (SRO5) is to be organised by the Arab Science & Technology Foundation (ASTF) on Scientific Innovation and Sustained Development , the event will take place in Fez , Morocco 26-30 October, 2008. Water and Agriculture, Environment and Marine Science, Biotechnology, e-Learning and e-Research in the Arab World, Energy and Renewable Energy are the themes among others. www.astf.net

2009 Thinking Gender: The UCLA Center for The Study of Women in conjunction with The USC Center for Feminist Research announce The Nineteenth Annual Graduate Research Conference , February 6, 2009 , UCLA Faculty Center . Thinking Gender is a public conference highlighting graduate student research on women and gender across all disciplines and historical periods. Information and s ubmission guidelines at http://www.csw.ucla.edu/thinkinggender.html

Diverse News

Sutong Bridge , China World's longest span cable-stayed bridge: The Sutong Bridge, a cable stayed bridge that spans the Yangtze River , between Nantong and Changshu, has a span of 1,088 metres (3,570 ft) and sets a world record for the longest span cable-stayed bridge. Construction began in June 2003 and bridge was linked up in June 2007. The bridge was opened to traffic on May 25, 2008 and was officially opened on the 30th June, 2008 . The all-China project is a six-lane expressway designed for maximum speeds of 100 kilometers per hour. The Sutong Bridge will cut travel times from Shanghai to Nantong from four hours to one hour.
The bridge is a good demonstration of China 's scientific achievements in bridge construction over the past years. The 1.15-billion-dollar bridge, which overtakes Japan's 890 meter (2,900 foot) Tatara Bridge as the longest of its kind, is a feat of modern Chinese engineering. said Wu Shouchang, project's chief engineer.
It claims four world records: Largest main span, the deepest foundation, the highest pylon and the longest stayed cable.

 

German Universities Rewarded for Hiring Women Professors.
Only one in six professors in Germany is a woman. But Germany 's Education Ministry is trying to redress the huge gender imbalance. It is giving 79 universities extra funding to employ more female lecturers and professors.
While women make up 50 percent of the student body, they only account for 40 percent of those pursuing doctorates. Only 24 percent of university lecturers are women, and a paltry 15 percent of the country's 38,000 tenured professors are female.
The German Education Ministry is hoping to make a dent in those figures by paying the salary of between one and three female professors or lecturers at universities that prove a commitment to redressing this gender imbalance.
On September 3, 2008 , Education Minister Annette Schavan, revealed the results of the first round of a competition for getting these extra funds. To secure the funding, the universities had to submit plans that proved that they wanted get more women into top academic positions by changing the structures at the university in a long-term and sustainable way. Announcing the results of the selection process, Schavan said the program was designed to promote more excellent female researchers to top positions. She added that it should give young women role models and motivation for their own academic careers, while female talent in leading positions will give research and development a new boost. www.spiegel.de

OECD Education at a Glance 2008: The 2008 edition of Education at a Glance: OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) Indicators enables countries to see themselves in the light of other countries' performance. It provides a rich, comparable and up-to-date array of indicators on the performance of education systems and represents the consensus of professional thinking on how to measure the current state of education internationally
The 2008 edition of Education at a Glance presented by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General on 9 September 2008 in Paris reveals that the decades-old expansion in educational participation and outputs continues to grow in volume terms.
•  While in 1995, 37% of an age cohort went into university-level programmes; that number is now 57%.
•  Tertiary education systems in OECD countries are now providing for around 8 million more students than back in 1995. And in some countries, the pace of change is even faster: In Finland and Poland, for example, the entry rate to university education has doubled in that period.
•  The growth in international students is playing its part in this. There are now over 2.9 million tertiary students enrolled outside their country of citizenship, more than a 50% increase since 2000 and more than double the number in 1995.
•  In some countries, such as Australia, Finland, Iceland, Poland and Sweden, as many as three out of four school-leavers set out to take a degree.
•  Public money still pays the bulk of the costs of tertiary education in most OECD countries. On average, OECD-wide, private funding covers around one quarter of the total bill. But the role of private funding is growing.
•  Average private spending on tertiary education has nearly tripled in OECD countries over the past five years, public spending has risen by only 26%. In Australia, Japan and the United States, the share of private funding exceeds 50% and in Korea it reaches 75%.
•  Soaring student numbers pose funding and quality challenges for universities in OECD countries.
•  In almost all OECD countries, younger people are better educated than their older compatriots. Korea stands out, with 97% of 25-to-34-year-olds having completed secondary education, against only 37% of 55-to-64-year-olds. In Ireland, 82% of 25-to-34-year-olds have attained upper secondary education, against 41% of 55-to-64-year-olds. In the United States, by contrast, both age groups show an identical 87% ratio: www.oecd.org