SWE - Conference 2008 - (Page 34)

definitions of engineering. The NAE deserves huge credit for thinking as broadly as they did in constructing this committee,” she said. “We were identifying the grand challenges for society in which engineers are relevant. I gained a broader appreciation for the richness of engineering.” Who picked the Grand Challenges? The panel of 18 people came from many different fields, some in engineering and science, some in business, some in health. They convened several times to determine the challenges. “We wanted the best people who had themselves met challenges in science and engineering …We had a fair representation of diverse disciplines and applications, which was an important criterion in bringing the panel together,” stated Dr. Perry, chair of the committee that selected the final Grand Challenges. He noted the crossing of ideas from field to field was stimulating. Getting the experts from different fields was a major contribution to the final selection of challenges. The three women on the panel exemplify the diversity of thinking and input that enriched the discussions and choice of challenges. Cardiologist Dr. Healy was the first woman to head the National Institutes of Health. She earned her M.D. at Harvard Medical School and completed her training in internal medicine and cardiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Healy then spent two years at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health before returning to Hopkins in 1976, where she became a professor of medicine. In vance of the challenges to people in their daily lives rather than hypothetical situations in the far future. “We had the benefit of a group of people with experience. They had the judgment of what was doable,” he said. “The people making the challenges knew how these could be done.” The crossing of ideas and experts from field to field was a major contribution in assessing how new engineering developments could make real contributions. (Please see the sidebar “The Panel.”) Speaking to the interdisciplinary aspect of the challenges, Dr. Lubchenco specifically addressed the challenge to “manage the nitrogen cycle.” An ecologist, she has researched how drastically humanity has affected the natural cycle of the planet. From this perspective, the role of engineers in solving the problem of fertilizer runoff is to ask, what and how do the behaviors and practices of farmers affect the environment? What are the economic and health issues? “We didn’t confine ourselves to narrow Do You Really Want to Help People and Make a Difference? An Appeal to Women Students Considering Engineering The NAE’s Grand Challenges had just been announced in January 2007 when Susan Hagness, Ph.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was contemplating how to inspire more women to pursue engineering careers. She knew the numbers. The percentage of women undergraduate enrollees in the biological sciences was, and remains, more than 50 percent, whereas in engineering the number is 20 percent and even lower for electrical and mechanical engineering. “The light bulb went on,” she recalled. “I wanted to come up with an innovative way to pitch engineering to prospective engineering students and in a more enticing way to women.” With the encouragement of the university and the help of other professors, she created a new course targeted to pre-engineering and undecided students, “Introduction to Society’s Engineering Grand Challenges,” which was offered for the first time in the spring of 2008. Based on the NAE Grand Challenges, the interdisciplinary course looks at how the humanitarian aspect of engineering can solve some of society’s greatest problems. “We emphasized the fact that these Grand Challenges must be tackled by multidisciplinary teams, which brought out the interdisciplinary nature of engineering,” she said. In addition, the course focuses on how economic, political, ethical, and social issues influence or constrain engineering solutions. The course is structured with an introductory module, after which students select from one of five themes: engineering challenges that impact our lives on a personal scale; engineering for the developing world; engineering the megacity; global engineering challenges; and engineering beyond planet Earth. “We created themes that are interdisciplinary and demonstrate the impact and scale of engineering solutions,” said Dr. Hagness. She and her colleagues designed the course to recruit students who are qualified to study engineering but are undecided. Many are women who are intrigued by the positive impact that engineers can have in the world. Dr. Hagness realized that engineering is too often misrepresented to students who would otherwise consider it. “It’s a trap we fall into when we ask prospective engineers, ‘Oh, do you like math and physics?’ rather than, ‘Do you really want to help people and make a difference?’” Based on a rigorous survey given at the beginning and end of the course, the class was deemed a success. “I get consistent feedback that this course is right on target as an alternative to the conventional introductory engineering course,” she said. Future plans include offering the course to a broader campus community and using it to encourage teachers in elementary and high school. 34 SWE CONFERENCE 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SWE - Conference 2008

SWE - Conference 2008 Contents President’s Note View from the Executive Suite Editor’s Page Readers’ Forum ICWES14 Women of Courage Engineering’s Grand Challenges — What’s Your Pick? Diversity from the Ground Up Membership Information & Calendar A&B FY08 Membership Meeting Minutes Engineering World Point of View Career Toolbox Bookshelf SWE Smiles SWE Scrapbook Conference Sponsors and Program Overview Corporate Partnership Council Thursday Conference Program Friday Conference Program Saturday Conference Program Corporate Members Opportunity Index

SWE - Conference 2008

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