The Climate Challenge is an Engineering Challenge - Ep171: Dr. Rosemary Barnes
Jul 17, 2024
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Dr. Rosemary Barnes discusses the role of engineering in tackling climate change, focusing on wind turbine design, hydrogen debate, and nuclear power in Australia. She emphasizes the importance of engineers' voices in the climate conversation and offers advice for women in STEM fields.
Engineering plays a critical role in tackling climate change via developing clean energy technologies.
Addressing biases and challenges in assessing engineering solutions objectively is crucial.
Building confidence, gaining diverse experience, and pursuing unique projects can ease challenges for women in engineering.
Deep dives
Climate Change is a Fundamental Engineering Challenge
Addressing climate change revolves around rebuilding energy, transport systems, infrastructure, agriculture, and cities to function without burning fossil fuels, posing a significant engineering challenge.
Dr. Rosemary Barnes' Background and Expertise
Dr. Rosemary Barnes, a mechanical engineer from Australia, specializes in clean energy technology development and runs her own consultancy, where she advises on technology roadmaps, test plans, and investment opportunities in clean energy.
Engineering with Rosie: A Unique YouTube Channel
Dr. Rosemary Barnes hosts the YouTube channel 'Engineering with Rosie,' where she delves into engineering complexities, providing insights into renewable technologies and debunking misconceptions about wind turbines and energy storage solutions.
Navigating Energy Solutions without Bias
In discussing nuclear energy, hydrogen, wind turbine design, and the optimal size of wind turbines, the conversation reveals societal biases and challenges in assessing engineering solutions objectively.
Women in Engineering: Overcoming Challenges and Building Careers
The importance of confidence, diversity, and gaining experience to differentiate oneself early in an engineering career is highlighted, emphasizing that with expertise and unique projects, navigating challenges as a woman in engineering becomes progressively easier.
This week on Cleaning Up, Michael Liebreich sits down with mechanical engineer and YouTube creator Dr Rosemary "Rosie" Barnes to discuss the critical role of engineering in addressing climate change. Rosie shares insights from her work developing clean energy technologies and her popular channel "Engineering with Rosie," where she tackles topics like wind turbine design, the hydrogen debate, and the nuclear power discussion in Australia through the lens of engineering. Rosie and Michael dive into the engineering challenges and solutions driving the energy transition, from optimising wind turbine size to navigating the politics around nuclear power. They also explore why engineers' voices are often overlooked in the climate conversation, and Rosie offers practical advice for the next generation of women in STEM fields.