Flagship initiatives
Every edition, year by year
World Engineering Day, the Hackathon and the Awards on one timeline, from 2027 back to the founding in 1968.
2027Next
- World Engineering DayWorld Engineering Day, 4 March: main WFEO celebration in Rome, Italy
- Hackathon2027 WFEO Hackathon on Sustainable Transport Engineering: winners announced on 4 March in Rome
2026
- Hackathon2027 Hackathon: registration opened 14 Sept; challenges 20 Nov; submissions due 12 Dec. Teams of 3–5 led by an engineering student, under 30; SDGs 3, 7, 9, 11; €7,000 in prizes (on an external site)
- Federation milestonesExecutive Council Meetings, Cairo, 27 Nov – 1 Dec, hosted by the Egyptian Syndicate of Engineers
- World Engineering DayWorld Engineering Day, 3–5 March, Jakarta, hosted by the Institution of Engineers Indonesia (PII). Theme: “Smart engineering for sustainable future through innovation and digitalization” (on an external site)
- Hackathon2026 Hackathon: a record 2,952 registrants from 85 countries
- Federation milestonesWorld Academy of Engineering launch announced by the President on 4 March; Rules of Procedure approved by the Executive Council on 3 March
2025
- Federation milestonesGeneral Assembly, Shanghai, 17 October: Seng Chuan Tan becomes President
- World Engineering DayWorld Engineering Day major event at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris
2024
- AwardsWFEO GREE Women in Engineering Award: Prof. Syuhaida Binti Ismail (Malaysia); 24 nominations from 15 countries
- World Engineering DayWorld Engineering Day major event in Portugal
2023
- AwardsLaureates approved by the Executive Council, Prague, 13 October: GREE Women in Engineering Award, Prof. Yandan Lin; Hassib J. Sabbagh Award, Building 7 of the iHarbour campus, Xi’an Jiaotong University; Medal for Excellence in Engineering Education, Prof. Sally Male
- World Engineering DayWorld Engineering Day major event in Spain
2022
- AwardsH.J. Sabbagh Prize for Excellence in Engineering Construction: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
- World Engineering DayWorld Engineering Day major event in Costa Rica
- Federation milestonesConstitution approved by the General Assembly, 9 March
2021
- Awards2021 edition (ceremony 12 April 2022): GREE Women in Engineering Award, Wai Yie Leong; Medal for Engineering Excellence, Neil MacLeod; Medals for Excellence in Engineering Education, Enzo Siviero and Kai Sang Lock
2020
- World Engineering DayThe first World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development, 4 March
- AwardsGREE Women in Engineering Award: Elvira Fortunato (Portugal); young engineers competition with WED, overall winner Aida Rafat
2019
- World Engineering DayUNESCO proclaims World Engineering Day at its 40th General Conference, November
- AwardsAwards presented in Melbourne, 23 November
- Federation milestonesExecutive Council, Melbourne, 22 November: 50-year history book launched
2018
- AwardsAwards presented in London, 22 October
- Federation milestones50th anniversary: cooperation agreements signed with five partners, March
2017
- AwardsAwards presented in Rome, 1 December
2015
- AwardsAwards presented in Kyoto
2013
- AwardsAwards presented in Singapore
2011
- AwardsAwards presented in Geneva
2009
- AwardsAwards edition
2007
- AwardsAwards edition
2005
- AwardsAwards edition (earliest published)
1968
- Federation milestonesWFEO founded in Paris, 4 March, by 50 scientific and technical associations, under UNESCO’s auspices
Source: wfeo.org/awards, worldengineeringday.net/hackathon, wfeo.org/world-engineering-day-2026, /executive-board, read 13 October 2026.
Gaps worth knowing. wfeo.org/awards stops at the 2024 edition (page last changed 19 September 2025), and no major World Engineering Day location is published for 2021. A timeline makes gaps like these visible to the Secretariat before they are visible to anyone else.
World Engineering Day
Proclaimed by UNESCO in November 2019; celebrated every 4 March since 2020. WFEO co-leads it with UNESCO and organises a major event each year.
Awards
The Strategic Plan (SP7) creates the WFEO Global Engineering Award as the Federation’s highest distinction, alongside the existing awards, which are being reviewed. Awards Committee chair: Abdul Majeed Al Qassab.
Each new edition opens as a row at the top of this timeline: call, deadlines, jury, laureates. Nothing about the next edition is published yet.