On November 8, the 2024 International Engineering Conference opened in Taizhou, Zhejiang. This conference is the first International Engineering Conference, hosted by the Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP).

The conference focuses on the theme "Sustainable Engineering, a Better Future," striving to promote global engineering technological innovation and cooperation, and to advance cooperation and exchange among the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, and Latin America in areas such as improving engineering education standards and international mutual recognition of engineers.

Opening ceremony scene. Photo courtesy of Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology

China is a major manufacturing country and also a major engineering country. China has now built the world's largest engineering education system, with more than 1.5 million engineering graduates each year and 11.56 million engineering and technical personnel holding engineer professional titles.

The development of China's engineering education is closely related to international cooperation. "Over the past year, FEIAP's excellent cooperation with China has been crucial to promoting engineering education, sustainable development, and supporting the Belt and Road Initiative. Through mutual recognition of engineering qualifications and joint training, FEIAP has significantly improved the quality of engineering education in China and across the entire Asia-Pacific region," introduced Aung Kyaw Myat, President of FEIAP and Chairman of the Myanmar Engineering Council, in his speech.

It is understood that this conference will hold special meetings on engineering education development, international cooperation in emerging technologies in engineering, and engineering capacity building, while also conducting side events such as a high-level dialogue on engineering education and the cultivation of outstanding engineers, and a special dialogue on "Green Design and Environmental Protection" for professional engineer standards in emerging technologies.

As the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation deepens, technological innovation is becoming increasingly active. Aliade Herrera, President of the Pan American Federation of Engineering Societies, believes that artificial intelligence technology can innovate design solutions and accelerate progress in the engineering industry in ways that disrupt past imagination.

"But this transformation requires an exchange of ideas and data sharing, and we urgently need to develop corresponding infrastructure and resources. This conference reminds us that the power of engineering does not lie in isolated individual engineers or organizations, but in the collective strength of a global network represented by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations," said Aliade.

Luo Hui, Member of the Party Group and Director of the International Cooperation Department of the China Association for Science and Technology, and Vice Chairman and Co-Secretary-General of the Chinese Society of Engineers, pointed out that the acceleration of digital and intelligent transformation, the prominent demand for greening and sustainable development, and the deep integration of bioengineering and medical engineering are three trends in the development of engineering science and technology.

"The new changes urgently require the international engineering community to join hands to provide new solutions for engineers to continuously improve their ability to solve complex engineering problems and their technological innovation capacity, and to jointly address global challenges," Luo Hui called for, expressing the hope that engineers can promote high-level openness and cooperation in the engineering field, encourage the engineering community to pay more attention to people-to-people and cultural exchanges, attach importance to engineering capacity building in Belt and Road partner countries, and also pay more attention to the growth of young and female engineers.