From USC
Look around the halls, classrooms and labs across the Southland that normally will be filled with engineers and their aspiring students and hold that mental picture, because all those spaces soon may be deserted and those folks gone. No, it won't be permanent. But for at least a few days this week, downtown and Exposition Park will be packed with a ginormous conclave of some of the top engineers, educators, corporate execs, policy-makers and others who hope to determine, lead, deepen and expand their field. It's part of the national 'grand challenge,' a gauntlet thrown down last year by the engineering national academy and answered, initially, by deans of the Trojan and Blue Devil schools who spearheaded the first summit on the Duke campus. This week a second such event will be here, with a student program already sold out, the added endorsement of the wizards in Pasadena, an address on educators' roles in the field by the top Mudder and RSVPs from a who's who of corporate and academic engineering. Skip the cliches about the slide rule crowd. But those in the field face some formidable labors as they respond to challenges they've been issued in four key categories: health, sustainability, vulnerability (security) and the 'joy of living.' What's all that means? Read deeper into the planned program ...
A who's who in the field gathers in L.A. to answer professional 'grand challenges'
Click here to learn more about the national academy's 'grand challenges'
