The final choices fall into four themes that are essential for humanity to flourish -- sustainability, health, reducing vulnerability, and joy of living. The committee did not attempt to include every important challenge, nor did it endorse particular approaches to meeting those selected. Rather than focusing on predictions or gee-whiz gadgets, the goal was to identify what needs to be done to help people and the planet thrive.
THE CHALLENGES
Make solar energy affordable
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 for scientific discovery
The panel, some of the most accomplished engineers and scientists of their generation, was established in 2006 and met several times to discuss and develop the list of challenges. Through an interactive Web site, the effort received worldwide input from prominent engineers and scientists, as well as from the general public, over a one-year period. The panel's conclusions were reviewed by more than 50 subject-matter experts.
"We chose engineering challenges that we feel can, through creativity and commitment, be realistically met, most of them early in this century," said committee chair and former U.S. Secretary of Defense William J. Perry. "Some can be, and should be, achieved as soon as possible."
The committee decided not to rank the challenges. NAE is offering the public an opportunity to vote on which one they think is most important and to provide comments at the project Web site -- <www.engineeringchallenges.org>.
The Grand Challenges site features a five-minute video overview of the project along with committee member interview excerpts. A podcast of the news conference announcing the challenges will also be available on the site starting next week.
"Meeting these challenges would be 'game changing,'" said NAE president Charles M. Vest. "Success with any one of them could dramatically improve life for everyone."
"Tremendous advances in quality of life have come from improved technology in areas such as farming and manufacturing," added Larry Page, co-founder of Google and a committee member. "If we focus our effort on the grand challenges of our age, we can hugely improve the future."
THE COMMITTEE
WILLIAM PERRY (COMMITTEE CHAIR), former secretary of defense, U.S. Department of Defense, and Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor and professor of engineering, Stanford University
ALEC BROERS, chairman, Science and Technology Select Committee, United Kingdom House of Lords
FAROUK EL-BAZ, research professor and director, Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University
WESLEY HARRIS, department head and Charles Stark Draper Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
BERNADINE HEALY, former director, U.S. National Institutes of Health, and health editor and columnist, U.S. News & World Report
W. DANIEL HILLIS, chairman and co-founder, Applied Minds Inc.
CALESTOUS JUMA, professor of the practice of international development, Harvard University
DEAN KAMEN, founder and president, DEKA Research and Development Corp.
RAYMOND KURZWEIL, chairman and chief executive officer, Kurzweil Technologies Inc.
ROBERT LANGER, Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JAIME LERNER, architect and urban planner, Instituto Jaime Lerner
BINDU LOHANI, director general and chief compliance officer, Asian Development Bank
JANE LUBCHENCO, Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology and Distinguished Professor of Zoology, Oregon State University
MARIO MOLÍNA, Nobel laureate and professor of chemistry and biochemistry, University of California, San Diego
LARRY PAGE, co-founder and president of products, Google Inc.
ROBERT SOCOLOW, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, Princeton University Environmental Institute
J. CRAIG VENTER, president, The J. Craig Venter Institute
JACKIE YING, executive director, Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter.
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