Page 10 - Engineering Career Guide for UT Austin

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: JONAS ZURCHER/UNSPLASH, ISTOCKPHOTO.COM (2), NICK-FEWINGS/UNSPLASH
SAVINGTHE WORLD
One Challenge at a Time
Ten years ago, the National Academy of Engineering surveyed the whole world to identify 14 Grand Challenges to ongoing human life that engi- neers could help solve. A vision for the next 100 years of work, the Grand Challenges point towards engineering feats that would make the world a more sustainable, healthy, secure, and happy place to call home. “We wanted to show how engineering can help guide us in to the future,” explains Randy Atkins, director of the Grand Challenges project.
Engineering schools across the country have incorporated the Grand Chal- lenges into their students’ learning through the Grand Challenges Scholars Program. Students build competencies in five areas vital to addressing proj- ects with global scope: technical content, multidisciplinary and multicultural perspectives, business savvy, and social consciousness. For students with a yen to change the world, a school with a Grand Challenges Scholars Program could be the first step.
Read on to find out more about the Grand Challenges themselves.
• Secure cyberspace. Almost every day, news breaks about hackers invad- ing digital space assumed to be secure. Communications networks, vital infrastructure, international financial markets, national security operations;