Engineers hold key to fixing financial system

Alec Broers, former president of the Royal Academy of Engineering and nanotechnology pioneer, has said that engineering expertise will hold the key to solving problems in the global financial system.

'In the future, engineers will hold the key to solving all of the most important challenges of the 21st century,' he said.

'I believe only engineers can form a working model for our financial system - something I wish we'd known before.' Broers was addressing graduates in a ceremony for the Faculty of Arts, Computing, Engineering and Science at Sheffield Hallam University.

'Every discipline must work together to find solutions to the challenges of this century, but I believe only engineers can find ways to simplify and apply those solutions and to make them work - in short, to "get on with it",' he added.

Broers has served on numerous national and international committees and was a member of the government's Council for Science and Technology.

He was elected to the Royal Society in 1986, to The Royal Academy of Engineering in 1985 and became a Foreign Member of the US National Academy of Engineering in 1994.

He was made a life peer in 2004 for his contribution to engineering and higher technology, and served as President of the Royal Academy of Engineering between 2001 and 2006.

Broers heads the list of 12 accomplished figures being recognised by Sheffield Hallam for their dedication to culture, science, education, business and journalism.

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