FUTURE TRENDS IN ENGINEERING, FROM ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING AND 3D PRINTING TO VIRTUAL REALITY

Engineering is poised for colossal transformations in the coming years driven by emerging technologies and the need for sustainability. New advancements like AI and machine learning will be ubiquitous across engineering, powering innovations in design, simulation, testing, manufacturing and maintenance. Engineers are increasingly embedding AI to enhance product capabilities, model complex systems, speed up workflows and reveal insights from big data. Prominent applications include autonomous systems, precision medicine and smart infrastructure.

Looming on the horizon too is generative design. Leveraging cloud computing and AI algorithms, generative models allow engineers to define design goals and constraints while exploring thousands of creative options unhindered by human limitations. The paradigm shift to “engineers teaching computers to design” promises radical new solutions and democratized design optimization. Companies like Airbus are already using it to design aircraft parts. Generative design also intersects with additive manufacturing or 3D printing, enabling the production of intricate, lightweight structures previously impossible to manufacture conventionally.

Sustainability is profoundly transforming engineering itself. The need for massive improvements in materials, energy efficiency, carbon reduction and closed-loop product lifecycles poses new technical challenges while realigning engineering’s purpose towards global development goals. Renewable energy systems, electric mobility, green hydrogen and carbon sequestration represent key focal areas. Sustainability constraints will drive cross-disciplinary convergence and innovation.

Assisted reality will overhaul how we design, operate and maintain engineered systems. Merging the physical and digital, interconnected AR setups that run simulations can enable rapid prototyping, operator training and remote expert support. One major manufacturing firm already uses Google Glass for manufacturing aircraft wire harnesses; the technology has immense potential for field maintenance, inspections and knowledge transfer.

While speculative, buzzy technologies like cobots, digital twins, 6G networks and neuromorphic computing highlight engineering’s creative zeitgeist in the 21st century. As computation and connectivity transform product design paradigms, engineers must holistically integrate software and sensors within hardware while collaborating across disciplines to engineer tomorrow’s adaptive, autonomous and sustainable systems.