The population challenge

A young engineers' technical project competition - results

From London to Sydney via over a hundred newspaper articles, web posts and radio stations of every hue across the world, the Institution’s report Population: One Planet, Too Many People? shot to international fame in the space of just a few sensational weeks. A similar destiny could await the thought-provoking ideas showcased in the Institution's Population Challenge.

The report considered the challenges of providing food, water, urbanisation and energy through sustainable solutions to meet the anticipated demand through to the end of the century.  The scope was extremely comprehensive and by necessity meant that detailed attention could only be focused on one example country for each of the three principal demographic areas that are expected to emerge:

•  Developed (example, UK)
•  Developing (example, China)
•  Newly Developing (example, Nigeria)

The range of sustainable solutions presented in the report was not exhaustive, but chosen to illustrate the types of engineering approaches that can be used to meet the challenges and create a successful outcome for all. 

Two rounds of technical submissions formed the structure of the competition

The competition was based on small teams of four to six young engineers submitting a short technical brief on sustainable engineering solutions to the challenges of the changing demographics within the population in their country.  The teams which successfully passed the first round of  judging were invited to expand on these solutions in a more comprehensive report to be submitted in the second round.  The grand final took place on 22 November 2011. View photos and results from the event.