The Shiley School of Engineering is one of 122 schools which signed a letter of commitment presented to President Barack Obama announcing a plan to educate a new generation of engineers expressly equipped to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing society in the 21st century. These “Grand Challenges,” identified through initiatives such as the White House Strategy for American Innovation, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Grand Challenges for Engineering, and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, include complex yet critical goals such as engineering better medicines, making solar energy cost-competitive with coal, securing cyberspace, and advancing personalized learning tools to deliver better education to more individuals.
The 122 schools have pledged to graduate a minimum of 20 students per year who have specifically prepared to lead the way in solving such large-scale problems, with the goal of training more than 20,000 formally recognized “Grand Challenge Engineers” over the next decade. They will be trained through special programs at each institution which integrate a hands-on research or design project connected to the Grand Challenges; real-world, interdisciplinary experiential learning with clients and mentors; entrepreneurship and innovation experience; global and cross-cultural perspectives; and service-learning.
Shiley School of Engineering students have worked on projects related to the Grand Challenges by providing access to clean water, enhancing virtual reality, and engineering better medicines. Engineering dean Sharon Jones’ letter to President Obama can be found here.
For more information contact the Shiley School at 7292 or stroheck@up.edu.