Bhoomika Singh
Every year on September 15th, India celebrates National Engineer’s Day with great enthusiasm and pride. This day is dedicated to honouring the exceptional contributions of engineers to society, highlighting their relentless pursuit of innovation, and inspiring the next generation of problem solvers. As we commemorate this day, it’s essential to delve into the history, background, significance, theme, and overall importance of National Engineer’s Day.
This year’s theme for National Engineer’s Day is “Engineering for a Sustainable Future.” This theme underscores the vital role that engineers play in addressing pressing global challenges such as climate change, resource depletion, and environmental degradation. Engineers are at the forefront of developing sustainable solutions that promote eco-friendly practices, reduce carbon emissions, and ensure a more sustainable future for generations to come.
The celebration of National Engineer’s Day goes beyond honouring one individual. It’s an occasion to recognize the collective efforts of engineers across various domains, including civil, mechanical, electrical, computer science, and more. Engineers are the driving force behind technological advancements, infrastructure development, and innovations that enhance the quality of life for billions of people.
SME Futures spoke to a few engineers who are entrepreneurs too, about the importance and significance of the Engineer’s Day.
Michael P. Morris, CEO and Co-Founder of Torc says, “Software engineers that work effectively with teams across multiple geolocations are vital to developing solutions that quickly address global environmental and societal challenges, like energy management, waste reduction, and human and material resource optimization. They utilize hard and soft skills across various disciplines to create progressive technology and processes that fuel sustainable behaviours and have the expertise to leverage historical data and predictive analysis with AI to drive measurable change. Sustainability solutions are often complex in design and development, further making the qualities of successful software engineers key to empowering organizations, governments, and the community to find new ways of doing things that lead toward a more sustainable future.”
Vasan Sampath, CEO of Bounteous India stated, “This Engineers Day comes with the backdrop of Chandrayan’s moon landing and we need not look further for evidence of what good Engineers can accomplish if they set their minds to it. The goal of engineering is to apply theory to practice to solve problems and make technological advances that help make the world a better place.
Engineers today must take on the added responsibility of doing things keeping in mind the well-being of the world we inhabit and future generations. I believe it has become imperative to weave ethics and systems thinking into the engineering curriculum and perhaps create the engineering equivalent of the Hippocratic oath.”
Sabarinath C Nair, Founder & CEO of Skillveri expressed, “Engineering is about a relentless pursuit for perfection balanced with optimization of valuable resources. Developing the right kind of skills is essential to minimize inefficiencies and prevent wasteful practices. Yet, the amount of training required itself results in significant materials wastage, especially in industrial activities like welding, painting, and blasting. At Skillveri, we have built transformative Extended Reality (XR) based solutions which deliver precise skill training while eliminating wastage and emissions. We take pride that we are driving innovation while engineering a sustainable future.”
Ram Meenakshisundaram, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Virtusa Corporation affirmed, “Technological advancements have significantly contributed to global progress, with engineers driving innovation and designing new solutions. Engineers are vital in pushing these changes, creating solutions, and driving impactful innovation. India is now a hub for tech innovation, fostering growth locally and abroad. Engineers drive innovation, progress, and vision. Aligned with our ‘Engineering First’ approach, this day signifies the essence powering our solutions, culture, and success. Engineering’s future is boundless; we lead with our engineers’ passion, turning challenges into opportunities.”
Sudhir Goel, Chief Business Officer of Acer India, “Engineer’s Day is a celebration of innovation, dedication, and the relentless pursuit of progress. In India, our engineers are the architects of transformation, bridging dreams with reality. Today, we salute the unwavering spirit of our engineering community, whose brilliance shapes a brighter future for our nation and the world.”
National Engineer’s Day is a day of celebration, reflection, and inspiration. It pays tribute to the pioneering spirit of engineers like Sir M. Visvesvaraya and recognizes the profound impact that engineers have on our world. As we celebrate this day, let us remember the dedication and ingenuity of engineers and encourage future generations to embark on a journey of innovation and excellence, working towards a more sustainable and prosperous future for all.
