ENGINEERING IN A POST - COVID WORLD

SUNDAY, OLIVER LINUS, MNSE, MIAENG

Electrical/Electronic Engineering
University of Uyo, Uyo

The birth of the covid-19 pandemic has caused the world to metamorphose from it
primitive stage of technological advances to a more fascinated technological and
sophisticated place. It has therefore stimulated and awaken the urge and desire for
inventions both in the professionals and the amateurs (Students) as a result of
combating the pandemic. Due to the impact of the pandemic, the technological and
innovative ideas are being accelerated and as such, the post –covid world would
likely be something so amiable to fall in love with, compared to the pre-covid world.

The pandemic has accelerated the health sectors to an amazing future and has
culminated in the health personnel (Doctors and engineers) and health organizations
around the globe the habit of getting ready for any unexpected pandemic
crisis/outbreak and the readiness and preparedness to inventing more technologies to
use combat them.
During this critical pandemic phase, the employment of telemedicine and other
communication technologies, micro devices for health monitoring and software for
asset backing has propelled the health sector to another fascinating level even with
the invention of cars with inbuilt ventilators.

Amid the covid-19 pandemic, in order to ensure that unpredictable measures are
taking to reduce people-to-people contact to reduce the spread of the virus, drastic
steps and measures like the shutting down of non-essential public places, ban on mass
gathering and ensuring social distancing are employed to limit physical contact. As a
means of promoting these measures, health professionals adopted robotics, tele-
health and artificial intelligence instruments to reach out to patients at homes,
isolation centres or hospitals.
At the same time, in most developed countries like China, Germany, India, France,
etc, quad-copters (drones) were introduced for street surveillance, disinfectant
spraying of the environment, medicine and grocery deliveries to citizens who were on
lockdown and temperature checks of people who were on lockdown. Reaching out to
these distant localities was therefore facilitated by these indispensable technologies.
Remote work (working from home) ought to have been a fascinating and enthusiastic
means of working to embrace in the periods before covid-19, but many organizations
and companies had found it irrelevant and were reluctant to adopt it. Surprisingly,
due to the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, companies have now realized the
evidence that remote work (working from home) is as productive as working in the
office and with this, remote work is becoming common and is likely to remain in the
space of time and even after covid-19 (post-covid world).

All being the same, the realities of the pandemic crisis have stand out to be an
unprecedented trajectory to new and fresh ideas that would aide evolve the world in
the 21st century.
Just like many companies and large businesses have adopted the e-commerce and
remote work, religious and educational institutions as well as health organizations
(Hospitals) are concerned as well and have embraced the sudden innovation.
Churches, hospitals and schools have also followed the trend as the increase in the
pace of adoption of tele-health or tele-medicine, video conferencing, fintech and
online teachings (e-learning) continues. Hence such acceleration in the pace of digital
transformation by the pandemic crisis has revealed the soundness and effectiveness
of the technology and innovation transition to many Thomas who have now realized
the need to adopt it with no going back. Thus, it has inspired to us the vision about
the world after covid-19 (post-covid world) as many awaits to embrace it, employ it
and join the trend.

If all these technological advances are made possible by engineering, let us now
imagine the effect of engineering to the world after covid-19 (post-covid world).
Hence, it would rather be better to discover propound, invent and transform the world
into an amiable, beautiful and a stress free kingdom than living in a world without
covid-19. On this note, in the course of overcoming this covid-19, new technologies
are invented and to control new viral, bacterial and fungal threats.
It is therefore an opportunity graced for all engineers across the globe and nations
(especially the developing and underdeveloped) to see it as a necessity to bring
technology and innovations to one field to produce world-class innovations rather
than viewing the pandemic crisis as a problem statement. While we mourn the lives
lost during this crisis, engineers have the opportunity to design a better future ahead.
With this, new products, systems, technologies will be produced together with the
already existing technologies and innovations invented and produce as a result of the
pandemic will make the post-covid world incomparable to the pre-covid world.