Development Engineering

What is Development Engineering?

Dr. George Bugliarello (2008) refers to engineering for development or development engineering as an interdisciplinary thrust in engineering that “responds to the global need for engineers who understand the problems of development and sustainability, can bring to bear on them their engineering knowledge, are motivated by a sense of the future, and can interact with other disciplines, with communities and with political leaders to design and implement solutions.”

OpenAI (2023) considers development engineering as “a vital field that contributes to improving the well-being of communities and advancing sustainable development goals. Development engineers apply their engineering expertise to tackle complex challenges and create positive impacts on societies around the world.”

Engineering plays a crucial role in developing technology and creating solutions that lift billions of people out of poverty and alleviate their daily struggles. Addressing the needs of the 4–5 billion individuals who fight for survival each day is no longer optional for engineers—it is both a professional and personal responsibility.

Development engineering challenges traditional engineering practices, often focusing on value-neutral technical solutions without considering social context. Instead, engineers must become change-makers, peacemakers, social entrepreneurs, and facilitators of sustainable development.

This field calls for a new approach to engineering education and practice that emphasizes reflective and adaptive thinking, systems thinking, engagement, and fieldwork. Engineers must adopt a holistic, strength-based perspective and collaborate with a diverse range of technical and non-technical stakeholders across disciplines rather than remaining confined to specialized technical silos.

Ultimately, development engineering humanizes the profession, reinforcing that, at its core, engineering is, above all – and has always been – about people.

Why Development Engineering?

Development engineering brings peace. Weak states with limited or no governance and rule of law, and impoverished communities in a globalized world, are more vulnerable to risks. Vulnerable communities do not have the capacity and resilience to adapt and cope with crises and adverse events and even less when facing multiple issues such as conflict, limited access to resources, and climate-related hazards.

Development engineering brings opportunity and economic prosperity. From just a market point of view, “4 billion people in search of an improved quality of life will create one of the most vibrant growth markets we have ever seen” (Prahalad 2006). The market for joint ventures between the private and public sectors in the low-income world has been estimated as being worth trillions of dollars in health care, low-cost housing, energy, and especially agricultural products (Budinich and Drayton 2010). There is a huge opportunity for doing well by doing good.

Development engineering is ‘engineering with soul.’ It is engineering with a human heart. It is compassionate engineering. It is incorporating body, mind, and spirit into the work we do. Not only does it create meaningful change, but it brings purpose and a sense of meaning into our own life.

Development engineering is about the 5Ps of sustainability. It is about navigating the complexity across the nexus between people, planet, prosperity, partnerships, and peace.