Engineers Australia

Australians have identified hybrid cars as the most important global engineering feat of the last decade.

A recent study, commissioned by Engineers Australia, into the contribution engineering has made over the past decade, found that motoring and environmental issues have been and will continue to be at the forefront of the nation's mind.

With over 40 per cent highlighting the development of hybrid technology as the most impressive recent engineering project, Australians have cemented the importance of vehicles in their daily lives while also showing their concern for the environment.

Furthermore, daily struggles with traffic on the roads and a faulting public transport system resonated through the findings with over 20 per cent identifying Australia's infrastructure as an area engineers should focus on in the near future.

"Engineers have the knowledge and resources to create the technologies that make things so in the community," said Jamie Penrose, director of communications and marketing at Engineers Australia.

"Engineering teams have been integral in working with the motoring industry to present new technologies that have improved every facet of today's vehicles."

Renowned social commentator Mark McCrindle, who conducted the study on behalf of Engineers Australia, agrees with the findings, "Australians are realists - they acknowledge cars as a part of everyday life but they are also becoming increasingly aware of the environmental issues that owning a car can bring. Hybrid cars address both of these concerns and therefore are highly valued by Australians."

"Transport has become a necessity in the modern world - the engineering profession will need to continue to assist the sector in providing the Australian public with new technologies and innovations to make daily life that little bit easier."

In a world-first competition, the Australian public has the opportunity to help engineers identify the next motoring revolution by visiting www.makeitso.org and contributing their ideas. The overall winning entry will be ‘made so' by a team of engineers.

To date, the ‘Make it so' competition has received over 4400 ideas, ranging from the ambitious to the practical. The hopes and wishes of the Australian public have been highlighted with some of the great automotive-ideas already being selected as weekly winners. Some of the ideas include:

· Make it so... my remote controlled key lock has a small display with an indicating arrow towards the car's position so that I can find it.
· Make it so... cars can run on solar energy since fuel prices are increasing and global warming is becoming a major problem. "Solar panel like" cars!
· Make it so... that cars can switch on an electromagnetic force when a crash is imminent between two cars, repelling the cars and reducing the impact.
Australians can visit www.makeitso.org.au to contribute their ‘make it so' idea. The competition is open until May 15th.