Sep 30, 2010 - Claremont, CA -

President Maria Klawe will join leading scientists and engineers, educators, policy leaders, innovators and corporate executives to address the 14 challenges articulated by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) at the 2010 NAE Grand Challenges National Summit October 7-8, hosted by USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering.

Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College since 2006, a trustee of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute at Berkeley and a member of the board of Microsoft, will participate on the Education Panel. A prominent mathematician and computer scientist, she is dedicated to increasing the participation of women and other under-represented groups in science and engineering.

Summit discussions will be organized around the four thematic threads of the challenges, namely sustainability, vulnerability, health and the joy of living, which represent key societal issues of the 21st Century. Specific Summit goals are:

• Enhancing public interest in engineering and science by articulating their critical role in modern society
• Educating public awareness of the importance of policy to engineering innovation and implementation
• Stimulating future collaborations of engineers, policymakers and practitioners of business, law, social sciences and humanities to address the complex societal issues raised by technological innovation
• Raising student in engineering, science, and technology entrepreneurship.

Universities across the U.S. are answering the call to action raised by the National Academy of Engineering in partnership with the National Science Foundation. That call has focused public attention on the NAE Grand Challenges, a critical grouping of problems that must be addressed and solved in order to maintain our national security, quality of life and sustainable future. Addressing issues this complex requires innovation and cooperation from engineers of all kinds, as well as policy makers, economists, geologists, biologists and sociologists.

The 2010 Grand Challenge Summit Series represents a commitment to sustain critical dialogue and engagement with grand challenge problems and to change the way students are educated in order to better prepare them for the challenges ahead.

The NAE Grand Challenges:
Make solar energy economical
Provide energy from fusion
Develop carbon sequestration methods
Manage the nitrogen cycle
Provide access to clean water
Restore and improve urban infrastructure
Advance health informatics
Engineer better medicines
Reverse-engineer the brain
Prevent nuclear terror
Secure cyberspace
Enhance virtual reality
Advance personalized learning
Engineer the tools of scientific discovery

Harvey Mudd College Strategic Vision

For more information on the NAE Grand Challenges, see http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9221.aspx.

Conference website, registration information, http://naegrandchallengessummit2010.org/