Committee on Engineering Capacity Building Guidebook
Following the September 2012 Council Meeting in Slovenia, a number of Strategic Actions have seen progress, such as, the Chinese translation of the Guidebook which has been completed and is in the process of being uploaded, as well as the commitment obtained from participants to the Committee on Engineering Capacity Building (CECB) Meeting for further translations into Arabic, French and Portuguese. The Capacity Building Guidebook which was published in 2010 is our template for all our projects and whilst we learn from this, we will also explore ways of refining the template for future projects.
CECB Compendium website
It is scheduled that the upcoming Capacity Building Compendium Website, which was presented at the meeting in Slovenia, will be launched in December 2012 and should subsequently, be linked to the WFEO - CECB Webpage. The Compendium will provide further opportunity of uploading material or to create linkages with various organizations that have programs related to Capacity Building. The Compendium is intended to be used as a facility to enhance co-operation and eliminate any duplication which may occur between STC's especially where Capacity Building issues are concerned, such as hosting articles from the Committee of Women in Engineering (WIE). Finally, participation of members of the WIE as well as the YE/YL Committee is further encouraged.
WFEO strengthens linkages with UNESCO
CECB to strengthen its linkages with UNESCO
Linkages with UNESCO are being strengthened and it has been stated that Mr Dawie Botha, a member of the CECB, will be seconded to UNESCO to work on their Engineering Initiatives.
UNESCO / WFEO Youth Convention
Within the framework of the UNESCO Engineering Initiative, a Convention will be organized by WFEO Young Engineers / Future Leaders in Kuwait, on 10-12 February 2013
New membership acquisition initiatives
CECB looks at how to acquire new members
The CECB continues to look at how to encourage new members to the Committee to inspire their own organizations to become members of WFEO. The evidence of this is illustrated by the information received regarding a Beirut-based member of a regional organization, who is already involved in FIDIC Capacity Building, now also a member of the CECB. This activity is ongoing.
President Al-Kharafi attends the 2012 Workshop on Innovation in ICT Education held in Beijing (China) in October
WFEO President, Eng. Adel Al Kharafi attended the 2012 successful Workshop on Innovations in ICT Education (WIIE'12) which was held in Beijing (China) on 22-23 October , 2012.
Jointly organized by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) Standing Technical Committee on Information and Communication, the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) the China Association of Science and Technology (CAST), and co-sponsored by the China Computer Federation (CCF), the workshop was also endorsed by UNESCO.
The Workshop which covered the theme: "Why and how ICT Education needs to be reformed", welcomed over 150 participants from all professions, such as professors from prestigious national and international research Institutes and Universities, as well as executives from advanced Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) companies, such as Microsoft, IBM, Intel or Toshiba.
The Workshop received great-attention from both academy and industry in terms of ICT Education initiatives and consisted of 3 panels with discussions concentrating on topics such as, "Challenges to and development trends of ICT curriculum design", "Enhancing the quality of ICT education by cooperating with industry", and "Quality control and accreditation of ICT education".
Natural Disaster Management and Mitigation Session at WES2013
Singapore will host the inaugural edition of the World Engineers' Summit (WES) in September 2013. Engineers from multi-disciplines and Climate Change specialists from all over the world will congregate to share ideas and insight on Climate Change. The WFEO Disaster Risk Management committee members as well as all other interested engineers and researchers are welcome to submit abstracts for the Natural Disaster Management and Mitigation session that will take place at the World Engineering Summit in 2013 (WES2013) by 31st January 2013.
For further information, please visit the official website at wes2013.org for registration and paper submission.
Seminar on Sharing Lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake
In addition to 15 lectures, there was a panel discussion with a lively question and answer session, highlighting themes such as lessons learnt subsequently to the strong Earthquake and 40 meter-tall Tsunami wave that hit Japan in 2011, and the structural measures that could prevent a number of death toll going beyond 20,000 individuals, and presented by Mr. Sanjay Pradhan, Vice President of World bank, who said that the integration of structural and non-structural measures is important, and highlighted the importance of adding to this integration public awareness promotion and sharing lessons learnt with international communities.
The representative of Indonesia talked about the reconstruction budget for Banda Ache Tsunami which has been increased significantly after GEJET in Japan.
Furthermore, Mr. Fujita, president of The Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) added that the collapse of the supply chain was a serious problem after GEJET and the floods in Thailand, causing indirect damages and becoming a major challenge following natural disasters.
Singapore will host the inaugural edition of the World Engineers' Summit (WES 2013) in September 2013, gathering participants from multi-disciplines and climate change specialists from around the world to share ideas and insight on innovative and sustainable solutions to climate change.
The WFEO General Assembly and committee meetings will take place during this week-long event.
Call for Abstract Submission
The WES 2013 Organizing Committee has extended its Call for Papers submission to January 31st, 2013
The Rising Energy consumption resulting in the increased use of fossil fuels has taken its toll on our environment. The need of the hour is to develop practical "Clean energy" solutions that provide reliable and cost-effective power in remote, off-grid distributed locations. Dr AVK Reddy has invented and patented an excellent fuel solution, which will not leave any carbon footprints through On Demand Hydrogen technology, and consists of reacting scrap aluminum with a Sodium Hydroxide solution to generate hydrogen and heat.
With over 400-billion Kilograms of scrap Aluminum, India has a huge reservoir of energy that can meet its needs for a long time.
Aluminum Hydroxide is a by-product which has varied industrial uses. It can also be recycled to pure primary aluminum utilizing power from alternative energies sources. On Demand Hydrogen Technology is simple, safe, scalable (from small to large systems), completely automated, a life span of over 20 years with virtually no maintenance and is above all cost-effective. This technology has been able to generate ultra-pure hydrogen with no impurities and ultra-pure Aluminum Hydroxide which can get a premium on the market.
The "On Demand Hydrogen Technology" thus generates the power which can be used for emergency services such as Hospitals, Communication Channels and many more, and replacing the diesel generator sets. In some Indian states the agriculturists depend on borewell irrigation. And due to erratic power supply, many farmers are unable to think of back-up power systems because of the prohibitive cost of Diesel Oil.
Hydrogen can be blended with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and supplied as fuel for Internal Combustion (IC) engines. The technology is ready and some vendors have already introduced products to the market place. On Demand Hydrogen solves this problem.
On Demand Hydrogen Centers can be created, similar to petrol/gas stations, and will allow to recharge hydrogen cylinders and/or blend with CNG. Our long term aim is to replace diesel and petrol with Hydrogen. These applications will have an enormous impact on the environment, foreign exchange and foreign dependence on all.
This unique, world class technology is a first of its kind. The impact on the environment, its citizens and government can be enormous by reducing the consumption of diesel and providing reliable access to power for those who do not grid connectivity.
