SWE - Winter 2009 - (Page 23) S Sustainability o, who are the engineers solving these epic problems? Surely, they, too, must think on a grand scale to reverse engineer the brain or prevent nuclear terror. However, a closer look reveals something else. While some engineers tackling these grand challenges do begin in the basic research stratosphere, the solutions don’t stay there. Nuts and bolts problem solving may be initiated from grand ideas but is executed by engineers in many different capacities. Four SWE members working in each of the four grand challenge categories demonstrate the breadth of how the challenges will ultimately be met. Their work ranges from academic proposals to talking with firefighters about their needs for better communication. Each woman has spent her career deeply immersed in a grand challenge. Each has seen her field slowly make headway. Each has contributed her skills to solving one of the challenges. Kristy Schloss, president and CEO of Schloss Engineered Equipment Inc., understands sustainability from many perspectives. Though she thinks deeply about the significance of water to humanity, she knows how to custom build a water system in a remote Egyptian village or what recycling water can mean to American megacities. According to the NAE, water is “foremost among the challenges that must be met to ensure the future itself.” Though the challenge to ensure clean water is formidable, the panel is convinced that engineers can solve the problem. Schloss is convinced as well. She has been involved with designing, developing, and selling environmental equipment My fellow SWE engineers: both domestically and internation“We do make a difference and ally in a company that her grandfahave a profound effect. We ther began in 1898. As change society and civilizations. third-generation head of the comWe can change the quality of life pany following her father, the envifor people all over the world. ronment and water are more than a What could be more rewarding?” business to her. “I want to contribute to society in a meaningful way,” she said. Her desire is to make a difference, a difference that is not just local but reaches throughout the developing world. Said Schloss, “Water is the underpinning of life and sustainability. Without access to clean water, nothing is possible.” Kristy A. Schloss, President and CEO, Schloss Engineered Equipment Inc., 2007 SWE Entrepreneur Award, 1994 Distinguished New Engineer Award, SWE Fellow and Life Member BOB ELBERT, VRA/IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY “We have a social responsibility. If you can build water transport systems, girls don’t have to be water mules. They can go to school.” Looking at the problems that must be resolved before clean water is a reality worldwide, Schloss noted that the cost of clean water is a huge obstacle. “People don’t have a concept of how expensive it is to deliver clean water to their taps or how truly valuable this resource is,” she commented. To Schloss, the technology to bring clean water to inaccessible parts of the world doesn’t require sophisticated electronics or complex solutions. Much of the equipment the company designs and installs goes to areas where it is barely maintained. Her answer to the challenge is to develop solutions that are reliable and affordable, with easy access to standardized spare parts. Turning to the need for clean water in cities, Schloss said the future depends on investment in improving and expanding water Schloss Engineered Equipment provides water treatment equipment to locations all over the world. SWE WINTER 2009 23 SCHLOSS ENGINEERED EQUIPMENT
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