World Engineering Day 2026

Smart engineering for a sustainable future through innovation and digitalization · Jakarta, 3–5 March 2026

At a glance

Theme
“Smart Engineering for a Sustainable Future Through Innovation and Digitalization”, with an emphasis on SDG 9
Main event
3–5 March 2026, the official launch event in Jakarta, Indonesia
Venue
Balai Kartini Convention and Exhibition Center, South Jakarta
Host
Institution of Engineers Indonesia (PII)
Hackathon
Three challenges; a record 2,952 registrants from 85 countries
Events
108 listings in February and March 2026 in 25 countries, 18 on 4 March itself

Source: WED 2026 itinerary; wfeo.org: World Engineering Day 2026; WED history; worldengineeringday.net public events feed. Read 13 October 2026.

Programme

As published in the WED 2026 itinerary. All times GMT+7.

Tuesday 3 March 2026 WFEO governance meetings and participant arrivals

  1. Registration and welcome coffee

  2. WFEO Finance Committee Meeting

  3. WFEO Executive Board Meeting

  4. WFEO Executive Council Meeting (part 1)

  5. WFEO Executive Council Meeting (part 2)

  6. Welcome reception and networking

    Aligned with Iftar time, hosted by the Governor of Jakarta in Jakarta City Hall.

Wednesday 4 March 2026 High-level segment: strategic and visionary focus

  1. Registration

  2. Opening ceremony

    Welcome remarks by the President of PII; UNESCO’s message by Maki Katsuno-Hayashikawa, Director of the UNESCO Office in Jakarta; opening address by Seng Chuan Tan, WFEO President; conferment of AFEO Honorary Patron; keynote address by the President of the Republic of Indonesia; opening of WED; MoU signing ceremony.

  3. High-level Panel 1: “From Innovation to Large-Scale Implementation: Engineers Delivering Real-World Impact”

    Keynote: Prof. Geoffrey Hinton (University of Toronto), 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics. Video message by Tshilidzi Marwala, Rector of UNU. High-level and ministerial roundtable moderated by Heru Dewanto, PII past President, with Indonesian ministers for infrastructure, industry, investment and public works.

  4. WFEO Hackathon: winners announcement and awards

    Presented by Marlene Kanga, WFEO past President.

  5. High-level Panel 2: “Smart Engineering for a Sustainable Future”

    Keynote by Shaofeng Hu, Director of the Division of Science Policy and Basic Sciences, UNESCO, on mobilising the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development. Roundtable moderated by Mustafa Shehu, WFEO past President.

  6. High-level Panel 3: “Global Trends on AI for Engineering Applications”

    Keynote by Prof. Brian Yulianto, Minister of Higher Education, Research, and Technology of Indonesia. Roundtable moderated by Yoslan Nur, Head of Engineering and Innovation Programme, UNESCO.

  7. Official gala dinner

Thursday 5 March 2026 WFEO work, technical depth and practical application

  1. Introductory session on the third UNESCO Global Engineering Report project

    Moderated by K. N. Gunalan, WFEO President-Elect, with Nahla Al-Qassimi, Chair of the WFEO Task Force on the third UNESCO Global Engineering Report.

  2. Panel 1: “Smart Engineering for Sustainable Infrastructure”

    Moderated by Ania Lopez, WFEO Executive Vice-President, with the chairs of WFEO’s committees on Engineering and Environment, Water, Energy and Engineering Capacity Building, and of the Working Group on Climate Change.

  3. 2nd Steering Committee Meeting, WFEO Engineering Capacity Building for Africa Programme (ECBAP)

    Chaired by Prof. Gong Ke, WFEO past President. In parallel: workshop on benchmarking engineering capacity and capability globally (Commonwealth Engineers Council).

  4. Panel 2: “Integrated Innovative Digital-Green Systems for Economic Growth, Climate Resilience and Disaster Risk Management”

    Moderated by Teguh Haryono, Secretary General, PII.

  5. Panel 3: “Digitalization for Productivity and Sustainable Growth”

    Moderated by Dandung Sri Hernito, PII.

  6. Closing ceremony and cultural performance

An earlier draft programme (24 February 2026, with sessions still marked TBC) is also still published on worldengineeringday.net. This page follows the later itinerary (17 March 2026).

Source: WED 2026 itinerary. Read 13 October 2026.

Hackathon 2026 results

  1. 1st place: Think³, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
  2. 2nd place: Echo-Logic, Technological Institute of the Philippines
  3. 3rd place: Algaboard, Ewha Womans University, South Korea
  4. Special mention: Sentinel Innovators, Chinhoyi University of Technology and Masvingo Polytech, Zimbabwe

The 2026 challenges, judging and winning videos

Events on 4 March 2026

All 108 listings for the 2026 season, on the map

Resources

Related initiatives

  • The third UNESCO Global Engineering Report project, introduced on 5 March.
  • WFEO Engineering Capacity Building for Africa Programme (ECBAP): second steering committee meeting.
  • The International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development, the subject of the UNESCO keynote.
  • World Academy of Engineering (on the WFEO website concept): launch announced on 4 March 2026.

Edition 2026 · archived

3–5 March 2026
Jakarta, Indonesia

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