Global Engineering Challenges

The Pennsylvania State UniversitySchool of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs

Ivan E. Esparragoza, PhD

Global Engineering Design

Session 3GLOBAL ENGINEERING CHALLENGES

Outline

Engineering a Transformation Agent

21st Century Challenge

US Grand Challenges for Engineering

What is Engineering?

According to its function:

IDEAS

RE

ALI

TIE

S


Engineering is constantly transforming the world



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Ford First Car “The Quadricycle”1896

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Motorola Cell Phone 1983

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Great Engineering Achievements1. Electrification 11. Highways

2. Automobile 12. Spacecraft

3. Airplane 13. Internet

4. Water Supply and Distribution

14. Imaging

5. Electronics 15. Household Appliances

6. Radio and Television 16. Health Technologies

7. Agricultural Mechanization 17. Petroleum andPetrochemical Technologies

8. Computers 18. Laser and Fiber Optics

9. Telephone 19. Nuclear technologies

10. Air Conditioning and Refrigeration

20. High-performance Materials

The internet Cell phone Personal computers Fiber optics E-mail GPS Portable computer CD’s Digital camera Micro-Electrical-Mechanical

Systems (MEMS) DNA fingerprinting

Air bags ATM Advanced batteries Hybrid cars Organic Light Emitting Diodes

(OLEDs) Display panel HDTV Space shuttle Nanotechnology Flash memory Voice mail

Period of intense change. None of the following existed as recently as 1980

21st Century Challenges

Population Water Food Energy Health Environment Terrorism/Conflict Climate change Biodiversity Wellbeing Sustainability

Source: Sir David King, Chief Scientific Adviser to UK Government, World Bank, 11 July 2007

National Grand Challenges

Make solar energy economical

Manage the nitrogen cycle

Advance health informatics

Prevent nuclear terror

Advance personalized learning

Provide energy from fusion

Provide access to clean water

Engineer better medicines

Secure cyberspace

Engineering the tools of scientific discovery

Develop carbon sequestration methods

Restore and improve urban infrastructure

Reverse-engineer the brain

Enhance virtual reality

The National Academy of Engineering identified 14 engineering grand challenges:

Make solar energy economical: Solar energy provides less than 1% of the world’s total energy, but it has the potential to provide much, much more.

Manage the nitrogen cycle: Engineers can help restore balance to the nitrogen cycle with better fertilization technologies and by capturing and recycling waste.

Advance health informatics: Stronger health information systems not only improve everyday medical visits, but they are essential to counter pandemic and biological or chemical attacks.

Prevent nuclear terror: The need for technologies to prevent and respond to a nuclear attack is growing.

Advance personalized learning: Instruction can be individualized based on learning styles, speed and interests to make learning more reliable.


Provide energy from fusion: Human engineered fusion has been demonstrated on a small scale. The challenge is to scale up the process to commercial proportions, in an efficient, economical, and environmentally benign way.

Provide access to clean water: The world’s water supplies are facing new threats; affordable, advance technologies could make a difference for millions of people around the world.

Engineer better medicines: Engineers are developing new systems to use genetic information, sense small changes in the body, assess new drugs, and deliver vaccines.

Secure cyberspace: It is more than preventing identity theft. Critical systems in banking, national security, and physical infrastructure might be at risk.Engineering the tools of scientific discovery: In the century ahead, engineers will continue to be partners with scientist in the great quest for understanding many unanswered questions of nature.


Develop carbon sequestration methods: Engineers are working on ways to capture and store excess carbon dioxide to prevent the global warming.

Restore and improve urban infrastructure: Good design and advance materials can improve transportation, water, and waste systems, and also create more sustainable urban environments.

Reverse-engineer the brain: The intersection of engineering and neuroscience promise great advances in health care, manufacturing, and communication.

Enhance virtual reality: The virtual reality creates the illusion of actually being in a different space. It can be used for training, treatment, and communication.

Source: http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/


Documents

Global Engineering Challenges