Internet of Things (IoT):Applications in Engineering and Technology

on 28/06/2024

An era of unparalleled connectivity and applicability across multiple industries has been ushered in by the Internet of Things (IoT), which has emerged as a transformational force in the engineering field. IoT is essentially a network of networked devices that are equipped with software, sensors, and protocols for communication that enable them to exchange and gather data. In engineering applications, this connectedness fosters a dynamic ecosystem that improves productivity, automation, and decision-making procedures. The Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) is a key component of IoT with regard to manufacturing and industrial engineering. Real-time data on production processes, environmental conditions, and equipment performance is collected on the factory floor through connected sensors and devices. Predictive maintenance is made possible by this abundance of data, which reduces downtime by foreseeing and fixing equipment problems before they arise. IoT also makes it easier to optimize resource usage, manufacturing workflows, and overall operational effectiveness.
Smart buildings and other infrastructure are included in the engineering application of IoT. Within civil engineering, sensors integrated inside buildings track environmental parameters, occupancy trends, and structural health. In order to maintain the structure’s stability and energy efficiency, this data is used for preventive maintenance of buildings. IoT is used by smart city projects to improve urban infrastructure, including waste management, public safety, and environmental monitoring in addition to traffic control and garbage disposal. The idea of Intelligent Transportation Systems serves as an example of how IoT is being applied in transportation engineering. IoT devices are used in cars, public transportation systems, and roadways. Examples of these devices are cameras and sensors. These gadgets make it possible to optimize routes, monitor traffic in real time, and maintain cars predictively. As a result, there is less traffic and an increase in general mobility thanks to a more responsive and efficient transportation network. IoT helps create smart grids and systems for managing energy in the field of energy engineering. Power grids with networked sensors track energy usage, spot problems, and balance the distribution of electricity. This degree of control encourages the incorporation of renewable energy sources, improves energy supply reliability, and makes demand-side management easier. An energy infrastructure that is more sustainable and resilient is the end outcome.
Applications for controlling and monitoring natural resources are included in the field of environmental engineering with IoT. Ecosystem sensors gather information on biodiversity, climate, and the quality of the air and water. For the purpose of making educated decisions in fields like pollution prevention, disaster relief, and conservation, this ecological data is essential. IoT technology offer practical insights into ecological systems that support sustainable environmental practices. The incorporation of IoT devices and apps has led to considerable breakthroughs in the healthcare engineering field. Early disease identification, individualized treatment, and remote patient monitoring are made possible by wearable sensors, health monitoring systems, and connected medical devices. These apps improve patient outcomes, lower medical expenses, and provide people the power to take an active role in their own health management. Using IoT to optimize farming methods is the agricultural engineering idea known as Precision Agriculture. Data on crop health, weather patterns, and soil characteristics are gathered by networked sensors. By using this information, farmers can boost crop output and resource efficiency by making data-driven decisions about fertilization, irrigation, and pest management. Sustainable and precise farming methods benefit from precision agriculture. IoT is vital to aircraft operation and maintenance in the field of aeronautical engineering. Aerial component sensors gather data on efficiency, fuel consumption, and maintenance requirements in realtime. By transmitting this data to ground-based systems, unplanned downtime is decreased and predictive maintenance is made possible. The security and dependability of air transport are improved by IoT technologies.
Monitoring of vital infrastructure, such as bridges and dams, is part of the IoT integration in structural engineering. These constructions have embedded sensors that are always keeping an eye on things like stress, vibrations, and the surrounding environment. Engineers are able to evaluate the structural health, spot possible problems, and carry out necessary maintenance or repairs on time thanks to this real-time data. Critical infrastructure’s longevity and safety are enhanced via IoT. The Internet of Things makes it possible to create Smart Homes in the field of communication engineering. Smart lighting controls, security cameras, and thermostats are examples of connected gadgets that may be managed and observed from a distance. This degree of automation and connectivity improves energy efficiency, comfort levels, and home security. IoT integration into daily life may be done seamlessly, as demonstrated by smart homes.

World will amass ‘major’ oil surplus by 2030: IEA

on 28/06/2024

The world is likely to have a major surplus of oil by 2030 as production is ramped up while the clean energy transition tempers demand, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday.
Global demand is expected to “level off” at 106 million barrels per day (bpd) toward the end of this decade while overall supply capacity could reach 114 million bpd, the IEA said in an annual report.
This would result in a “staggering” surplus of eight million bpd that oil markets should prepare for, the Paris-based agency said.
“As the pandemic rebound loses steam, clean energy transitions advance, and the structure of China’s economy shifts, growth in global oil demand is slowing down and set to reach its peak by 2030,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol.
With “a major supply surplus emerging this decade,” Birol said, “oil companies may want to make sure their business strategies and plans are prepared for the changes taking place.”
The forecast comes days after the OPEC+ group of major crude producers signaled they would start to unwind output cuts this autumn, implemented in a bid to support prices against fears of weakening worldwide demand.
In its report, the IEA noted that fast-developing Asian countries like China and India along with the aviation and petrochemical sectors would still drive oil demand, which stood at 102 million bpd in 2023.
But the shift toward electric cars along with fuel efficiency gains for conventional vehicles, and declining use of oil by Middle Eastern countries for electricity production, would help limit the overall demand increase to around four percent by 2030.
‘Lower oil price environment’
The IEA said demand in advanced economies is expected to continue a decades-long decline, falling from 46 million bpd in 2023 to less than 43 million bpd in 2030—the lowest since 1991 apart from during the pandemic.
At the same time, oil production capacity appears set to surge, led by the United States and other countries in the Americas, leading to the forecast of an eight-million-barrel surplus—a level reached only during the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020.
“Such a massive oil production buffer could usher in a lower oil price environment, posing tough challenges” for the US shale industry and the OPEC+ bloc led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, the report said.
“Such a massive cushion could upend the current OPEC+ market management strategy aimed at supporting prices,” it said.
In a separate monthly report on the global oil market, the IEA cut its forecast for demand growth for 2024 to 960,000 bpd compared to 1.1 million bpd in its previous outlook.
Its forecast for 2025 was also lowered to one million bpd from 1.2 million in its May report.

What did Pakistan gain from prime minister’s visit to China?

on 28/06/2024

During his China visit, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assured all-out facilitation to Chinese investors that mutually rewarding business-to-business cooperation was key to a bright future for the two people.
Addressing the Pakistan-China Business Forum, he highlighted bilateral trade and investment potential, especially in key sectors including the transfer of Chinese technology, industry, and partnership in IT, agriculture, mining, steel, textiles, and renewable energy.
Apparently, an admirer of the Chinese model of development said “I will go back to Pakistan with this resolve, come what may, we will follow this model of great economic transformation in Pakistan. This model is enough to copy and simulate if we are sincere to our purpose and people. By God, I can tell you this is difficult but not impossible,” he told the gathering of hundreds of business leaders from Pakistan and China.
As the Business Forum also marked the B2B matchmaking, he urged the Pakistani businessmen to sit with their Chinese counterparts and find out ways to move Chinese textile industries to Pakistan and make joint collaborations in steel and other industries. “Today is the opportunity, time, and moment to capture. Sit down with Chinese friends to have serious discussions. I want to ensure you not as prime minister but as Chief Executive of Pakistan that I will give you the fullest support so that businessmen of Pakistan and China get benefits jointly,” he remarked.
Prime minister’s and his teams’ claims as regards the gains apart, Nikkei Asia, a leading Japanese media company said the prime minister and his team left nearly empty-handed after finishing a five-day official visit because, quoting analysts as saying the Chinese have become wary of putting in more money since they know it is a financial black hole due to Pakistan’s long-term poor economic circumstances.
The paper writes: Pakistani leader Shehbaz Sharif went to China hoping to land more big-ticket energy and infrastructure deals as his country reels from an economic crisis.
While Sharif and his entourage of cabinet ministers met with President Xi Jinping and other top officials in Beijing, the group left nearly empty handed after finishing a five-day official visit this past weekend.
That may be the new normal for Pakistan’s leadership as China cools on the South Asian nation and its much-hyped $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a cornerstone of Beijing’s globe-spanning Belt and Road Initiative.
“The Chinese have become wary of putting in more money since they know it is a financial black hole due to Pakistan’s long-term poor economic circumstances,” Jeremy Garlick, an associate professor of international relations at Prague University of Economics and Business, told Nikkei Asia. “China needs to maintain the facade that CPEC is working because it is supposed to be a key part of the BRI.”
Last month, Islamabad requested an additional $17 billion of China-funded energy and infrastructure projects following a key meeting of the body that decides on future CPEC investments.
Before his trip, Sharif’s first to China since taking office in March, Pakistani officials had claimed that an upgraded version of the multibillion-dollar agreement would be formally launched in Beijing.
The Chinese response, however, was lukewarm. A 32-point joint statement issued this weekend revealed that Pakistan eked out few concrete gains, with only a vague mention of an upgraded economic cooperation deal.
“Earlier CPEC investments in the power sector were rushed by political needs, and might not have been optimal,” said Stella Hong Zhang, a China public policy postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center.
That was highlighted by cash-strapped Pakistan’s recent call to restructure more than $15 billion in power-plant debt owed to Chinese energy producers operating power plants in Pakistan. The surprise request came as the Islamabad negotiates a $6 billion to $8 billion bailout with the International Monetary Fund.
Another aggravating factor is security. On the weekend, Pakistan committed to ensuring the safety of Chinese workers in the country and projects after a string of deadly militant attacks alarmed Beijing, casting further doubt on future investment.
Still, Sharif’s entourage managed some modest gains. China agreed to advance the Main Line 1 (ML-1) Railway project in stages. With a price tag of $6.7 billion, the ML-1 will improve Pakistan’s railway infrastructure between the southern port city of Karachi and Peshawar in the north in three phases. China has only agreed to the first phase.
There was also a deal to upgrade a portion of the Karakoram Highway that connects Pakistan with China through mountainous terrain, which is closed during winter due to heavy snowfall.
“We will not see big investments, nor will we see China [completely] withdrawing from cooperation with Pakistan,” Garlick said.
Mohammad Shoaib, an assistant professor at Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, said that further progress on Chinese investment in Pakistan will likely come slowly, and remain that way: “CPEC will continue to be a major enterprise in terms of rhetoric only,” Shoaib said.
However, there may be potential for nongovernmental economic cooperation between the two countries, he added. “China will be interested in doing business with a growing number of enthusiastic entrepreneurs in Pakistan,” Shoaib added.
Zhang, from Harvard’s Kennedy School, agrees. The Chinese “government will urge companies to seek opportunities in Pakistan,” she said. “Whether such activities will bear fruit will still depend on how much Pakistan’s business environment improves.

Local industry unable to meet local demands: Engr. Najeeb Haroon

on 28/06/2024

Urging the Prime Minister to impose an education emergency in Pakistan, Federal Science and Technology Minister Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui has said Pakistan needs to produce at least 25,000 IT graduates and specialists to work globally and earn valuable foreign exchange for the country.
“In a country with 150 million youngsters, we have around 30 million children who don’t attend school, while a vast majority of school-going children are unable to read and write. Under these circumstances, we need to impose an education emergency and focus on producing thousands of IT graduates to fill the gap of IT specialists in the world,” Siddiqui said while speaking at an award distribution ceremony organized by the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC).
An Artificial Intelligence-based ‘Traffic Management System’ to control traffic lights automatically and a wearable arm sleeve for performance analysis of cricket bowlers with AI-based analytics were among 10 startups awarded Rs10 million each as seed money by the PEC at a ceremony held in Islamabad on Thursday.
Launched by the Pakistan Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Centre (PIEDC) of the PEC, the selection of startups was conducted in two phases, with 153 startups applying, out of which 10 were selected for the awards.
Lauding the Pakistan Engineering Council’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Committee (ICE), Siddiqui praised the chairman and senior management of the PEC and assured the ministry’s full support for initiatives aimed at uplifting the engineering community in Pakistan. He also emphasized revitalizing the engineering education system to produce entrepreneurs and job creators.
Chairman PEC Engr. Najeeb Haroon lamented that Pakistan was importing most of the engineering products, including basic engineering items, as the local industry was unable to meet the demands of the people. “One of the major issues we are facing in the engineering sector is the declining enrollment of students in our engineering and technology universities. We are already facing a dearth of qualified engineers, and it is feared that this will increase in the days to come,” he added.
The PEC chairman said through the seed money project, they were trying to attract young students to come up with innovative ideas and start projects that could provide solutions to our needs and demands.
Maj-Gen Shahid Nazir, DG Special Project Land Information Management System (LIMS) of the SIFC, offered the SIFC’s support to nurture startups, particularly related to agri-tech, and said they could connect innovative startups with farmers who needed mechanized solutions to their issues in agriculture.
Director Pakistan Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Centre (PIEDC) Engr. Dr. Amer Sohail Kashif, said many graduate engineers have innovative and commercially viable solutions for the challenges faced by Pakistan, resulting in entrepreneurship opportunities and job creation. “However, due to the lack of a focused platform for engineering startups, they are unable to flourish as independent entrepreneurs,” he said but added that now the PIEDC was offering interest-free loans as seed money, payable in 7 years in easy installments to the award-winning startups.

Pakistan secures six-year extension as‘Full Signatory of Washington Accord’

on 28/06/2024

Pakistan has received a six-year extension in its title as a Full Signatory of the Washington Accord, bringing good news for the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) this June, similar to June 2017 when the regulatory body first obtained this prestigious status.
This decision for extension was made in the International Engineering Alliance Meeting (IEAM 2024) held on June 13, 2024, in New Delhi, India.
The Washington Accord establishes criteria, policies, and procedures for accrediting engineering academic programs. Signatories agree to accept each other’s accreditation decisions and to publish statements certifying their intent to do so. This mutual recognition ensures “substantial equivalence” of their engineering programs in meeting academic requirements. Signatories also commit to exchanging information, conducting mutual monitoring, observing accreditation visits, and promoting best practices. The Accord facilitates the effective mutual recognition of accredited Engineering Degree courses across signatory countries. Australia and the United States continue to serve as Chairman and Secretariat, respectively.
PEC, representing Pakistan, achieved this distinguished status in 2017 after first pursuing it in 2011. This multinational agreement, initiated in the UK and signed in 1989, promotes the mutual recognition of engineering accreditation worldwide.
Signatories to the Washington Accord have full participation rights, recognizing qualifications accredited or recognized by each other as substantially equivalent within their jurisdictions. Qualifications accredited under the Accord are listed on the Washington Accord Accredited Qualifications list, with the requirement that they must have been completed in or after 2017.
This achievement has provided engineers from Pakistan with significant opportunities, including studying abroad and obtaining employment, without barriers such as Competency Demonstration Reports (CDRs). They are also eligible for Skills Assessment via the Accredited Qualifications pathway for migration purposes.