ETHICS: A MISSION FOR THE ENGINEERING FEDERATIONS
Abstract Consideration is given to the dilemmas faced by engineers, if and when conflicts arise between the individual's sense of social responsibility and his specific technical interests. A specialized topic included with these is the protection required for whistle-blowers. In general, it is asserted that creating a climate in which ethical behaviour may flourish should be considered as one of the most sophisticated, but also one of the most rewarding, tasks facing the engineering federations. Recommended actions on behalf of IFAC and other engineering federations are outlined. Finally a warning is given against extremist attempts to exploit ethical issues in engineering.
The human role in the age of information
Age of automation entails freedom from most of the common working roles. Signs are changes in employment, unemployment, professional structures, relevance of services, entertainment industry, working hours, and the nature of social relations. Warnings are suggested against voluntaristic interventions, neglect of social, historical relations. New approaches are required in the fields of lifelong education and in the education of socially disadvantaged people. The changes in evolutionary inherited motivations and life styles are critical challenges to mankind. Open society and lessons of system control are recommended.
Parboiled rice effluent: A wastewater niche for microalgae and cyanobacteria with growth coupled to comprehensive remediation and phosphorus biofertilization
Abstract The potential of microalgae and cyanobacteria for bioremediation of wastewater by nutrient uptake combined with simultaneous biomass production is a well recognized perception of today's world. The present study illustrates the treatment of a highly polluted wastewater generated during parboiling of paddy in rice mill industries, widely operational in developing countries where rice is the staple food crop, with the help of microalgal and cyanobacterial isolates capable of growing at high rates in parboiled rice mill effluent (RME). This endeavor leads to comprehensive bioremediation of the said effluent and subsequent use of the harvested biomass as slow release phosphorus biofertilizers and the treated effluent for crop irrigation. The RME-acclimatized algal consortium demonstrated highest growth in terms of fresh weight and greatest remediation efficiency at the end of 36 days' treatment of RME, with 93.9% phosphorus and 100% ammonia-nitrogen removal, 98.7%, 91.6% and 93.5% reduction in biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand and total dissolved solid, respectively, and an increment of 186 ± 0.3 mg L − 1 dissolved oxygen, bringing down the pollutants level well below the discharge limits suggested by Central Pollution Control Board, India. Additionally, microalgae in the consortium aggregated in clumps spontaneously in presence of the filaments of Phormidium sp. facilitating easy harvest. The RME-acclimatized algal consortium demonstrated highest accumulation of polyphosphate (poly-P) (0.76 ± 0.01% of dry weight) as well as highest release of phosphorus in non-sterile soil emphasizing the essential role of soil phosphorus solubilizing organisms to leach soluble phosphorus from the insoluble poly-P present in the biomass. The rice seedlings watered with treated RME also showed improved growth effect on shoot height and leaf width. The study results establish the suitability of RME as an excellent growth media for microalgae and cyanobacteria.