2024 Conference on Sustainability in Engineering, by Alhareth Abu Osba

Over reading week, Dalhousie sent me along with six Engineering students to the 2024 Conference on Sustainability in Engineering (CSE) at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) with the theme of ‘The Essential Engineer’. As a first-year student that is passionate about sustainability and the environment attending my first conference, I was excited to see how engineering and sustainability go hand in hand.

The conference included many sessions hosted by professors, industry experts, and engineering students. The wide range of speakers ensured a broad perspective on the responsibility engineers have for implementing sustainability into all their work. Along with the sessions there were many social events that gave students the opportunity to network and meet with fellow engineers from across Canada.

Among all the sessions, "The 1.5 Degree Lifestyle" by Lloyd Alter truly was one of my favorites. Based on his book, Alter shared how he tracked his entire carbon footprint, and described sustainability as often being an elitist concept because of how hard it is to avoid embodied carbon in our day to day lives. This perspective was enlightening, prompting me to reconsider my own consumption habits. Overall, the conference was very interesting and broadened my understanding of sustainability and engineering.