Singapore – The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) held the inaugural IES Green Festival in commemoration of the World Engineering Day (WED) for Sustainable Development at the Science Centre Singapore on 4 March 2023. The event presented opportunities for students and the public to learn, explore and re-imagine engineering possibilities for a more sustainable future. It is Singapore’s anchor activity, as one of two satellite locations and the only one in Asia, for the global WED celebrations.

An official day proclaimed in 2019 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), WED takes place on every 4th of March to celebrate engineering and the contribution of the world’s engineers for a better, sustainable world. Jointly organised by IES and the Science Centre Singapore, the IES Green Festival is aligned with the WED 2023 theme “Engineering Innovation for a more Resilient World”.

Apart from the Fireside Chat with Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State of the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, the event comprised the following fun-filled and educational activities: Tech Talks on ‘Engineers go Farming’ and ‘21st Century Engineering: How Developed is Your Imagination?’, an Exhibition Showcase on thinking and doing things the innovative and sustainable way, a Bicycle Dynamo Challenge to promote powering up in a green way, a Green Trivia Challenge where participants could trail their way to the answers, a Sustainability Drones Challenge for planning routes to reduce carbon footprint and an opportunity to take the Green Nation Pledge towards a sustainable, resource-efficient and climate-resilient Singapore.

“The IES Green Festival aims to help students and the public grasp the many opportunities for them to embrace and build a green future through engineering. It is one of the key events held this year for the IES Green Plan 2030, a plan created and launched by IES for the engineering community to support Singapore’s whole-of-nation sustainable development movement,” said Mr. Dalson Chung, President of IES.

The festival was also LIVE streamed on WED Global Stream on the same day, along with other high- profile events, interviews with ambassadors and discussions on key engineering topics taking place around the world. The LIVE stream also encompassed the announcement of the winners of the 2023 WED Hackathon and presentations by the finalists showcasing the use of theoretical knowledge in a fast-paced simulation of a real-world project. Teams from Temasek Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechnic are among the selected finalists from Singapore.