Grand Challenges for Engineering

The Grand Challenges for Engineering are a set of 14 goals identified by the National Academy of Engineering through a poll of technology experts as the most pressing and significant of our time.

The Challenges

From the National Academy of Engineering web site on the Grand Challenges

• Make solar energy economical
• Provide energy from fusion
• Develop carbon sequestration methods
• Manage the nitrogen cycle
• Provide access to clean water
• Restore and improve urban infrastructure
• Advance health informatics
• Engineer better medicines
• Reverse-engineer the brain
• Prevent nuclear terror
• Secure cyberspace
• Enhance virtual reality
• Advance personalized learning
• Engineer the tools of scientific discovery

Questions

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External Links

• Links specifically about the Grand Challenges. Note - These relate specifically to the NAE and the Grand Challenges, not the themes of the Grand Challenges.
  • National Academy of Engineering
  • Grand Challenges for Engineering
  • Media:
    • Engineering’s greatest challenge: Our survival, MSNBC, updated 15 February 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
    • Leading Engineers and Scientists Identify Advances That Could Improve Quality of Life Around the World, National Science Foundation, updated 20 February 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
    • Grand Challenges for Engineering - Video, YouTube, accessed 15 August 2008
• Links relevant to the Grand Challenges:
  • Make solar energy economical
    • Two Large Solar Plants Planned in California, Matthew Wald, New York Times, accessed 15 August 2008
    • PG & E to buy power from new solar projects, Los Angeles Times, accessed 15 August 2008
  • Provide energy from fusion
    • The New Hot Job: Nuclear Engineering, Alison Go, US News & World Report, accessed 15 August 2008
  • Develop carbon sequestration methods
    • Farmers get money for capturing carbon, AP, updated 15 August 2008, accessed 15 August 2008, unavailable as of 11 January 2009
  • Manage the nitrogen cycle
    • 'Dead Zones' Appear In Waters Worldwide, Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, updated 15 August 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
  • Provide access to clean water
    • UN in call for basic sanitation, BBC, updated 17 July 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
  • Restore and improve urban infrastructure
    • 5 things your car will finally do in 2020, John Brandon, CNN, updated 12 March 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
    • New sensors upgrade Metro Airport safety, Detroit News, updated 14 August 2008, accessed 15 August 2008, unavailable as of 11 January 2009
  • Advance health informatics
    • Demand Increases for More Health Care IT Professionals, iHealthBeat, updated 13 August 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
  • Engineer better medicines
    • Survivability Doubled Since Vietnam, Elizabeth M. Lorge, Military.com, updated 14 August 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
  • Reverse-engineer the brain
    • Reverse-engineering the brain for better computers, Clive Maxfield, EE Times, updated 18 September 2007, accessed 15 August 2008
  • Prevent nuclear terror
    • Careful science can help to fight terrorism, Richard Mottram and Clive Cookson, Financial Times, updated 28 July 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
  • Secure cyberspace
    • 'Cybersecurity commission' to proffer advice to next president, Declan McCullagh, CNET, updated 7 August 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
  • Enhance virtual reality
    • How Virtual Crime Scenes Work, Jonathan Strickland, How Stuff Works, accessed 15 August 2008
  • Advance personalized learning
    • Apangea Learning Nominated as Tech 50 Awards Finalist, MarketWatch, updated 14 August 2008, accessed 15 August 2008, unavailable as of 11 January 2009
  • Engineer the tools of scientific discovery
    • All-nanowire sensor arrives, Kirsten Doyle, ITWeb, updated 14 August 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
    • UCLA's 13 million-digit prime number could win $100,000, CNN, updated 27 September 2008, accessed 28 September 2008, unavailable as of 11 January 2009