Lord Browne of Madingley - Engineering the Future of Civilisation

Open an account with SCI to order your free ticket for this and other events here.
https://www.soci.org/events/pel--lord-browne-of-madingley--engineering-the-future-of-civilisation

This magnificent building in Belgravia is host to interesting talks on a diverse range of subjects, They are very generous with the reception after the talk. Meet the speaker after the talk and have them answer all your questions.

Today’s unprecedented pace of change is provoking widespread fear and scepticism about the ways engineering advance is affecting our lives. Is improved health care creating an ageing population which cannot be cared for? Will autonomous drones with facial recognition software and lethal weapons soon be used to terrorise or coerce us? Are artificial intelligence and robotics poised to cause massive unemployment, or even wrest control from human leaders? And has our growing demand for energy driven the Earth’s climate to the edge of catastrophe?

In contrast to the hysteria and doom which characterise these topics, Lord Browne will show why it is imperative that society encourages, rather than hinder, technological progress. Engineering is and always has been the lifeblood of civilisation. From the flint hand axe to the quantum computer, it has transformed what it is to be human. Across the ages, engineering has made the world less violent; a place with much less poverty, disease and starvation; where a growing majority of people can read and write and more people than ever have the freedom to build the life they want to live.

Drawing on history, his own experiences and conversations with many of today’s great innovators, he will acknowledge the unintended consequences of progress, but show that it is our also our primary source of solutions. We have the engineered solutions we need to forestall the worst effects of climate change, for example. And biomedical engineering can provide the means to care for the world’s growing populations with sensitivity and compassion. Applied responsibly and inclusively, engineering can deliver a brighter future.

About the speaker
http://asgtmg.co.uk/event/society-of-chemical-industry-1.html