Opinion: A graduate-entrepreneur looks forward 40 years

Opinion: A graduate-entrepreneur looks forward 40 years

[Editor's note: Simon Barker has a bachelors degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, a PhD in Resilient Energy Harvesting Systems and is now the CTO of a U.K.-based startup called Radfan. Like any entrepreneurial-minded engineer he has an keen interest in how the future will develop and how engineers, with a good grasp of business, can be at the forefront of building this future. To that end we asked students and young people what they think technology could do for their world over the next 40 years and what they would like it to achieve. Their opinions follow this one by Barker--Peter Clarke]

NEWCASTLE, England – Thinking, and writing, about the future sometimes seems to be both a curse and a gift of the human condition. Our ability to think about the past and use it to inform and transform our futures sets us apart from most of the animal kingdom.

But with it comes the burden of worry. Will things turn out ok? Will Greece remain in the Euro? Will my house plunge in value? Will climate change leave Africa a completely inhospitable desert? Will my kid get a good enough college degree to get a job? Will she even need to go to college?

I could go on.

If that all sounds a bit depressing, don't worry. In this article I will propose a positive vision of 2052 that develops from what we are currently doing. There are some hiccups along the way but overall things will get a lot better.

It may seem utopian, even naive to some, but looking at where we have come from in the last 10 years I think a hopeful and benign future on this planet – and beyond – is within our grasp.


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Simon Barker

TAG:40th eet Harvesting Systems Radfan