SWE - Conference 2008 - (Page 36)

THE PANEL: • William Perry – Committee Chair, Stanford University’s Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; and co-director of the Preventive Defense Project at the Center for International Security and Cooperation as well as the former secretary of defense for the U.S. Department of Defense from 19941997 • 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 – Health Editor and Columnist, U.S. News & World Report, former head of the National Institutes of Health • W. Daniel Hillis – Chairman and Co-founder, Applied Minds Inc. • Calestous Juma – Professor of the Practice of International Development and Director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project, Harvard University • Dean Kamen – Founder and President, DEKA Research and Development Corp.; founder of For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) • 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 – Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California • 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, J. Craig Venter Institute • Jackie Y. Ying – Executive Director, Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology 1984, President Ronald Reagan appointed Dr. Healy deputy director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In 1985, she became chairman of the Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation where she directed the research programs of nine departments. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush Bernadine Healy appointed her director of the National Institutes of Health. She later served as dean of Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health and professor of medicine from 1995 to 1999. She is currently health editor and columnist for U.S. News & World Report. Dr. Lubchenco, Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology and Distinguished Professor of Zoology at Oregon State University, received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in marine ecology. She taught at Harvard for two years and has been on the faculty at Oregon State University since 1978. She is pastpresident of the International Council for Science and a former president of the American Association for Jane Lubchenco the Advancement of Science and the Ecological Society of America. She was a presidential appointee to two terms on the National Science Board, which advises the president and Congress, and oversees the National Science Foundation. Jackie Y. Ying received her B.E. and Ph.D. from The Cooper Union and Princeton University, respectively. She joined the chemical engineering faculty at MIT in 1992. She has been the executive director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore since 2003. For her research in nanostructured materials, Dr. Ying has been recognized with the American Ceramic Society Ross C. Purdy Award, David and Lucile Packard Fellowship, Office of Naval Research and National Science Foundation Young Investigator Awards, Camille Dreyfus TeacherScholar Award, Jackie Y. Ying American Chemical Society Faculty Fellowship Award in SolidState Chemistry, Technology Review TR100 Young Innovator Award, and American Institute of Chemical Engineers Allan P. Colburn Award. She was elected a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and is a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. She is the editor-inchief of Nano Today. Grand goals of the Grand Challenges Though the challenges present a fascinating look at the problems engineers hope to solve in the future, the Grand Challenges embody a greater purpose. The NSF and NAE had three primary motives for creating the list: inspire young people to become engineers; help explain to policymakers and politicians why they should invest in and utilize the tools of engineering and science; and raise public awareness about the impact that engineers have on their lives and on the world. Without engineers coming into the pipeline, who will work on these looming challenges? “The report and the publicity given to it and the programs which stem from the report can go a long way in increasing public awareness and young people’s interests,” said Dr. Perry. He specifically wants to see the ideas in the report incorporated into university courses as well as a version in high schools. “The message of the Grand Challenges is that engineering is powerful, and fun, and key to solving many of the problems that face society,” observed Dr. Lubchenco. Without a public willing to fund engineering challenges or policymakers to get behind the projects, the Grand Challenges merely exist on paper. If people are not informed about these significant problems, they can’t convey to their political representatives what’s at stake. To illustrate this point, Dr. Ying cited an example from Singapore, where she is currently the executive director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. “Politicians are looking at how to sustain 36 SWE CONFERENCE 2008

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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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