Amidst increasing concerns about finding ways to maintain the quality of life and creating a sustainable future, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) on Engineering and the National Science Education, has put forth a call to address 14 global engineering challenges. The challenges tackle critical issues centered around security, health and environment. Three of the challenges include preventing nuclear terror, advancing health informatics and making solar energy economical.
Wellesley, in collaboration with Babson College and Olin School of Engineering, is partaking in the action and sponsoring the Boston Grand Challenges Summit. The regional summit, “Education Imperatives of the Grand Challenges,” will be held on Wednesday, April 21 in the Houghton Chapel.
“The question is how do we educate people in order to meet the challenges we expect happening in engineering?” said Frost professor of Environmental Studies and professor of Political Science Elizabeth DeSombre. DeSombre is one of the two faculty members on the committee.
Co-sponsored by Duke, Olin and USC, the National Grand Challenges held at Duke University last year inaugurated the initiative to combat the proposed challenges. The conference brought together educators from around the country, including Professor of Physics, Robbie Berg and other faculty members on the committee.
The National Summit not only stimulated dialogue about finding solutions to the Grand Challenges but also spurred discussion on redefining and energizing the field of engineering. “Our mission should be to train the next generation of engineers who are going to make a difference in the world,” Berg said, quoting a keynote speaker verbatim. “For me, it was a real epiphany because that’s something that certainly resonates at Wellesley.”
The twist is applying the familiar theme of making a difference to engineering. Wellesley currently does not offer a major in engineering, though Berg, who has taught an introductory course in the subject, noted many physics majors who have gone directly into the field in graduate school. The conference provides a jump-start in fusing engineering and a liberal arts education.
“It makes sense that if you care about meeting the challenges in the future, engineering, liberal arts and business are a way to combine forces to think about anything that we would be facing,” said DeSombre, who is a strong supporter of the collaboration between the three institutions.
Associate Dean of the College Adele Wolfson demonstrated the different angles that the partnership will provide on the topic of clean water. “It’s clearly an engineering problem, but it also clearly relates to the ways people live together, which is something you might be studying here more than at those other places,” she said. “And then it also relates to the way that somebody at Babson, who’s an entrepreneur, might think about how to put it into practice.”
The summit is only one example of the benefits of the three-college alliance. While institutions such as MIT provide research opportunities for Wellesley students, Berg pointed out that there is often still a need for an engineering background. “This collaboration with Olin has been about finding ways to sort of make a bridge between Wellesley and Olin so students can get started with engineering here,” Berg said.
The Grand Challenges Summit, however, is not only for students in the sciences or for those interested in engineering. “Most of the challenges are not purely technical. They have a strong political-socio-economic component,” Berg said. “You need a variety of perspectives to work successfully in these problems.”
The summit will follow the model of Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Talks. DeSombre describes TED Conferences as “short, very engaging talks in which a person is trying to get across one big idea.” In addition to individual presentations and panels, students will have opportunities to personally meet with speakers, who are experts in the fields of political science and economics as well as engineering.
The conference is expected to support 400 participants and is free to students of the host schools. Berg, who has seen some his best students also exhibit strengths in Studio Art and English, encourages everyone to register. “I would love it if people who show up at Wellesley are not just engineering [students],” he concluded.
Be the first to comment on this article!