Failure Modes of Engineering (FeME)

FeME rethinks engineering to tackle climate and social challenges, promoting diversity, resilience, and inclusive solutions for a sustainable future.

FeME tackles how traditional engineering fails to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and social equity. These failures disproportionately impact women, children, and marginalized communities. The project uses the concept of “failure modes” to identify structural gaps and redesign engineering practices to be inclusive, resilient, and sustainable. Through training, networking, seed funding, and collaborative challenges, FeME empowers underrepresented voices and fosters interdisciplinary solutions. Its goal is to transform engineering into a socially responsible and environmentally conscious discipline that serves both people and the planet.

Our project brings together engineers, social scientists, industry partners, and communities to rethink engineering for climate resilience and social equity. The project identified “failure modes” where traditional engineering falls short in addressing global challenges, especially for women, children, and underrepresented groups. Through training programs, networking events, seed funding, and design challenges, FeME fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and empowered underrepresented voices. Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Heriot-Watt lead the initiative, supported by EPSRC funding, with contributions from diverse stakeholders. I am the project Director.

FeME is working to deliver tangible impacts through:

(1) Capacity Building: Training programmes, seed funding, and design challenges enabling underrepresented voices to contribute to climate-focused engineering solutions.

(2) Visibility and Representation: Initiatives like the FeME Tapestry showcase global stories of women and minority engineers, amplifying their contributions and inspiring future participation.

(3) Accessibility Measures: Travel bursaries and a Caring Pot remove barriers for those with financial or caregiving constraints, ensuring equitable engagement.

(4) Inclusive Innovation: By integrating diverse perspectives, FeME fosters solutions that better reflect real-world needs, improving creativity and problem-solving.

FeME faces challenges in inclusion, trust-building, disciplinary silos, and agility. Communities often distrust engineering solutions that ignore local needs, and climate challenges demand rapid, interdisciplinary responses. FeME addresses these by fostering community co-design, and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and training. FeME also encourages flexible, resource-efficient practices to adapt to climate disruptions. These strategies aim for meaningful engagement, diversity, and resilience in engineering solutions.