Food fuels young people’s imagination
19 July 2010
One of my favourite projects in recent years has been the Bosch Technology Horizon Awards – essentially a scheme to encourage young people to think about technology, form their own opinions and express them coherently.
The reason I like this in particular is that it encourages many of the aspects that I consider both important and dear to my heart. Having been trained as an engineer and since re-directed my career into writing about engineering, these Awards reward those with an interest in both. What is more is that it is aimed at young people and encourages them to use their imagination in tandem with logical and analytical thought processes to come up with their independent thoughts.
Regular readers of this column (and our printed magazines EM&T and EPD) will be aware of the importance we place in encouraging young people to enter the world of engineering through our own e-Legacy awards, so it is of no surprise that the Bosch project appeals to me.
The Bosch Technology Horizon Awards are split into two age groups (14-18 and 19-24) and the winners’ for this year were recently announced. The theme set was ‘Are engineering and technology essential for future development?’ and the first point of interest is that both winners see the future defined by the single problem of population growth. Technology’s role, according to the winners, is to provide the means of feeding this population.
I am not sure if I share this rather bleak vision of technology’s role as being primarily an enabler for survival (I would hope the future is a bit more fun than that), but the thought behind the winners essays and the eloquence of their arguments was excellent. The winners were Caitlin Willis (in the younger category) and Thomas Dean, and their essays can be viewed, along with the rest of the entrants, on the Bosch web site.
I was particularly taken with Thomas Dean’s essay which dealt with the arguments about population being naturally self-regulating, or evolving to be better at feeding itself. His beautifully written piece concluded with the following paragraphs:
“Although enough food is produced every year to feed the entire planet, people are still dying from famine. Grain mountains build up in European silos in order to keep the open market price high, whilst 792 million suffer from a chronic food deficit (Food & Agriculture Organisation, 2000). Although genetically modified crops have been engineered to grow in arid and adverse conditions, benefiting areas of drought and malnourishment, they have also been altered so that they do not produce any seeds. Although originally researched for more convenient consumption of certain fruits, this trait also means that farmers are dependent on purchasing more seeds from the supplier after each crop.
Basic medical care taken for granted in more economically developed countries is an unavailable luxury for 270 million children in the developing world.
So it could be argued that new technology is not necessarily what is required for future development. Methods for sustainable energy production, clean water and plentiful food supplies are no longer visions of the future, but readily available right now. It is more the improved distribution and implementation of these existing technologies which is the key issue.”
My point this week is not about how to feed the world, it is just that it is reassuring that the technological light still shines bright in the next generation and that we should congratulate companies like Bosch for trying to stimulate it.
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