Grand Challenges for Engineering

Poster Session at the 2009 Summit on the NAE Grand Challenges, hosted by Duke University

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.

Duke University and Duke's Pratt School of Engineering hosted the first Summit on the NAE Grand Challenges March 2-3, 2009, in Durham, NC. The Summit organizers were Duke University, the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California, and Olin College. Part of the Summit included a Video and Essay Contest.

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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Big Idea Panel at the 2009 Summit on the NAE Grand Challenges, hosted by Duke University

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
  • Video and Essay Contest
  • Summit on the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges hosted by Duke University and organized by Duke University, the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California, and Olin College
  • 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
    • Viterbi School to Co-Host Grand Challenges Summit, USC Viterbi, updated 8 January 2009, accessed 11 January 2009
• Links relevant to the Grand Challenges:
  • Make solar energy economical
    • Getting Solar off the Ground, Lee Billings, Seed Magazine, created July 28, 2009, accessed August 24, 2009
    • Nanowires May Boost Cell Efficiency, USCD Jacobs School of Engineering, updated February 2008, accessed February 17, 2009
    • 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
    • Solar Manufacturing: Not So SunnyKate Galbraith, New York Times,created 14 January 2009, accessed 19 January 2009
    • New lab aims to advance solar energy industry, Christina Honsberg, ASU News, created 11 July 2008, accessed 21 January 2009
    • Next stop for solar cell technology, The Hindu, created September 12, 2011, accessed September 21, 2011 (Make solar energy economical)
    • Inexpensive Material could be the key to cheaper, more efficient solar cells, Mark Schwartz, Stanford Engineering, created 20 January 2015, accessed 30 January 2020 (Solar Cells)
  • Provide energy from fusion
    • Fusion Energy is Coming, and Maybe Sooner Than You Think, Tomas Overton, Power, June 1 2020, accessed Oct 1 2021
    • Fusion Power: Will It Ever Come?, William E. Parkins, Science Magazine, 10 March 2006, Accessed 26 August 2009
    • Can Britain Afford Fusion?, Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC News, updated 29 December 2008, accessed 14 January 2009
    • The New Hot Job: Nuclear Engineering, Alison Go, US News & World Report, accessed 15 August 2008
    • Can Engineers Achieve the Holy Grail of Energy: Infinite and Clean? Charles Seite, Discover Magazine, accessed 14 January 2009
    • Nuclear Fusion: Energy of the Stars, With No Emissions Spiegel Online, posted 2 January 2009, accessed 21 January 2009.
    • Fusion Quest Goes Forward, Alan Boyle, created 12 June 2008, accessed 21 January 2009
    • The heat is on for the world's biggest laser, Breck Hitz, Optics.org, 14th August 2009, Accessed September 7 2009 (Provide energy from fusion)
    • Laser fusion trio team up to develop clean power, Jeff Hecht, Reed Business Information Ltd., updated 13 September 2011, accessed 21 September 2011 (Grand Challenge)
  • 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
    • Carbon Sequestration R&D Overview, US Department of Energy, updated 5 January 2009, accessed 14 January 2009
    • Carbon Sequestration Technology Roadmap and Program Plan US department of Energy, created April 2007, accessed 14 January 2009
  • Manage the nitrogen cycle
    • 'Dead Zones' Appear In Waters Worldwide, Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, updated 15 August 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
    • Nutrient Overload Unbalancing the Global Nitrogen Cycle World Resources Institute, created 1998, accessed 14 January 2009
    • Looking Beyond Carbon We Also Have to Look at the Nitrogen Cycle Jeremy Jacquot, Science Progress, created 3 June 2008, accessed 14 January 2009
    • When It Comes To Nitrogen, The 'Fix' Is In, Science Daily, created 16 June 2008, accessed 20 January 2009
    • Closing the global N2O budget: nitrous oxide emissions through the agricultural nitrogen cycle Arvin Mosier, Carolien Kroeze, Cindy Nevison, Oene Oenema, Sybil Seitzinger and Oswald van Cleemput, Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, created October 1998, accessed 21 January 2009

• • Provide access to clean water
    • UN in call for basic sanitation, BBC, updated 17 July 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
    • The Water Project, The Water Project, updated 2008, accessed 14 January 2009
    • Innovations - Water Filter, Australian National University, updated 4 April 2005, accessed 18 January 2009]
    • Solving the Problem of Clean Water for Poor Communities, San Francisco Chronicle, Rick DelVecchio, May 13, 2006, accessed January 21, 2009
    • Even in the U.S.Access to Clean Water Can be Tough, Christen Simeral and Cat Boardman, USNews, posted August 12, 2014, accessed September 15, 2014 (Provide Access to Clean Water)
    • WaterAid.org, WaterAid, accessed 14 September 2015
  • 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
    • Does Broadband Need a Stimulus?, Saul Hansell, New York Times, January 21, 2009, accessed January 21, 2009
    • Urban Densification: Creating Space to Live, Jonathan Solomon, CNN, updated 7 December 2008, accessed 20 August 2009
    • Making Cities More Walkable With Better Data and Technology, Daniel Castro, Government Technology, April/May 2020, accessed October 1 2021
  • Advance health informatics
    • [1], Joyce Sensmeier, Information Week, updated 9 September 2014, accessed 13 September 2014
    • Healthcare IT News, Don E. Detmer, Healthcare IT, updated 4 November 2004, accessed 14 January 2009
    • Demand Increases for More Health Care IT Professionals, iHealthBeat, updated 13 August 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
    • Managing Technological Change: Organizational Aspects of Health Informatics, Google Books, created 2004, accessed 15 January 2009
  • Engineer better medicines
    • Survivability Doubled Since Vietnam, Elizabeth M. Lorge, Military.com, updated 14 August 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
    • Weill Cornell experts publish review of genetic medicine,Weill Cornell experts, News-Medical.net, 3-Apr-2006, accessed 14-Jan-2009
    • Personalized medicine: revolutionizing drug discovery and patient care,Geoffrey S. Ginsburg and Jeanette J. McCarthy, Tripod.com, TRENDS in Biotechnology Vol.19 No.12 December 2001, accessed 01-Jan-2009
    • Making Personalized Medicine a Reality, Lisa A. Haile, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, updated 1 January 2008, accessed 14 January 2008
    • [2], Sophie Visvikis-Siest, Danai Theodoridou, Maria-Spyridoula Kontoe, Satish Kumar, Michael Marschler , frontiersin.org , 30 November 2020, Accessed 7 September 2022)
  • Reverse-engineer the brain
    • Reverse Engineering the Brain, Sally Adee, IEEE Spectrum, updated June 2008, accessed 14 January 2009
    • Reverse-engineering the brain for better computers, Clive Maxfield, EE Times, updated 18 September 2007, accessed 15 August 2008
    • Reverse-Engineering the Brain, Fred Hapgood, Technology Review, updated 11 July 2006, accessed 18 January 2009
    • Blue Brain Project Christiane Debono, Blue Brain Project, accessed January 20, 2009
    • UCSD Biologists Discover That Nerve Activity Not Just Genetics Controls Kinds Of Neurotransmitters Produced Sherry Seethaler, UCSD News, created 2 June, 2004, accessed 21 January, 2009
  • 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
    • Preventing Nuclear Terrorism, Oliver Kamm, updated 30 March 2008, accessed 14 January 2009
    • The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Paradigm Charles Barton, updated 19 January 2009, accessed 19 January 2009
    • Understanding and Preventing Nuclear TerrorismTravis Sharp and Erica Poff, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Updated December 3, 2008, accessed January 20, 2009
  • Secure cyberspace
    • 'Cybersecurity commission' to proffer advice to next president, Declan McCullagh, CNET, updated 7 August 2008, accessed 15 August 2008
    • The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, National Infrastructure Advisory Council, access 14 January 2009
    • U.S. at Risk of Cyberattacks, Experts Say, Brandon Griggs, CNN, updated 18 August 2008, accessed 14 January 2009
    • Fragile Web, David Sandham, The IET, 22 November 2008, accessed 20 January 2009
    • Time to Move Toward a More Secure Cyberspace, Chris Bronk, World Politics Review, 13 August 2009, accessed 6 September 2009
    • Rethinking cybersecurity for a quantum world, Dr. Vikram Sharma, Hans Bachor, AAS, 22 February 2021, accessed 28 September 2021

• • Enhance virtual reality
    • How Virtual Crime Scenes Work, Jonathan Strickland, How Stuff Works, accessed 15 August 2008
    • MIT Press Journals - Presence, Eugene Ch'ng and Robert Stone, MIT, updated June 2006, accessed 14 January 2009
    • Formula 1's Virtual Reality, Joe Saward, GrandPrix, updated 14 January 2009, accessed 14 January 2009
    • Virtual Reality Based Surgical Assistnace, Kevin Montgomer PhD, accessed 20 January 2009
    • Enhancing Radiographer Training using Virtual Reality Training Systems, SceinceDirect, updated April 2007, accessed March 17, 2009
    • Healing Minds with Virtual Reality, Christina Couch, PBS, updated 2 April 2015, accessed 2 September 2016
    • [3] W. Geoffrey Wright, Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, Published 2014 Apr 8

• • 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
    • Personalized Learning APLUS+, accessed 14 January 2009
    • Advanced Personalized Learning, UC San Diego, posted 29 February 2008, accessed 14 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
    • Large Hadron Collider Enables Hunt For 'God' Particle To Complete 'Theory Of Everything', ScienceDaily, updated 29 May 2008, accessed 21 January 2009

New Head of the Department for Metallurgical Engineering at Tuks , Cetre for Minerals Research, accessed September 22, 2011