World Engineering Day 2026

In November 2019, UNESCO proclaimed the World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development (WED) at its 40th General Conference. It is celebrated worldwide on March 4 each year since 2020.

Since then, WFEO has co-led with UNESCO the annual World Engineer’s Day celebrations on March 4, federating the initiatives and events organized by its hundred or so member institutions, and organizing a major event each post-Covid year (in 2022 in Costa Rica, in 2023 in Spain, in 2024 in Portugal and in 2025 in Paris, at the UNESCO Headquarters).

This year, the theme was “Smart engineering for sustainable future through innovation and digitalization” and the main event was held from March 3 to 5 at Balai Kartini Ball Room in Jakarta, hosted by our National Member for Indonesia, the Institution Engineers Indonesia (PII).

The event gave the floor to leading governmental, scientific and entrepreneurial figures, to illustrate the diversity of issues and contributions linking the engineering profession to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

WFEO President Dr. Seng-Chuan TAN Opening Address

On 4th March 2026, WFEO President Dr. Seng-Chuan TAN delivered the Opening Address for World Engineering Day for a Sustainable Development 2026.

In his speech, he reaffirmed WFEO’s long‑term vision to be the global engineering leader for a sustainable future by 2035, while also setting clear priorities for the years ahead, that are defined in the WFEO’s Strategic Vision (2026–2035).

Dr. Seng-Chuan TAN also officially announced the launch of two major new pillars within WFEO: the WFEO Institute and the World Academy of Engineering, two pillars that will serve as knowledge homes for engineering leadership, enabling the global community to share expertise, build capacity, and collectively shape the future of engineering.

You can see more information of this page.

Video of the Launching of the World Engineering Day 2026

The WFEO Hackathon

As a most popular feature of WFEO’s organizing WED, the “WFEO Hackathon” came back. The WFEO Hackathon is a unique annual competition inviting participants to develop solutions to global issues that bring us closer to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Participants work teams to create a short video outlining their solution. This year, the challenges were based on UN Sustainable Development Goal 9: “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure” and winners were revealed during the main event.

For 2026, we set a new record for Hackathon registrations, with 2,952 individuals registering from 85 countries.

Marlene Kanga, WFEO Past President, presenting the 2026 WFEO Hackathon Winners

You can see more information of this page and on the World Engineering Day 2026 report.