• Advance personalized learning Instruction can be individualized based on learning styles, speeds, and interests to make learning more reliable.
  • Make solar energy economical Solar energy provides less than 1% of the world's total energy, but it has the potential to provide much, much more.
  • Enhance virtual reality True virtual reality creates the illusion of actually being in a different space. It can be used for training, treatment, and communication.
  • Reverse-engineer the brain The intersection of engineering and neuroscience promises great advances in health care, manufacturing, and communication.
  • Engineer better medicines Engineers are developing new systems to use genetic information, sense small changes in the body, assess new drugs, and deliver vaccines.
  • Advance health informatics Stronger health information systems not only improve everyday medical visits, but they are essential to counter pandemics and biological or chemical attacks.
  • Restore and improve urban infrastructure Good design and advanced materials can improve transportation and energy, water, and waste systems, and also create more sustainable urban environments.
  • Secure cyberspace It's more than preventing identity theft. Critical systems in banking, national security, and physical infrastructure may be at risk.
  • Provide access to clean water The world's water supplies are facing new threats; affordable, advanced technologies could make a difference for millions of people around the world.
  • Provide energy from fusion Human-engineered fusion has been demonstrated on a small scale. The challenge is to scale up the process to commercial proportions, in an efficient, economical, and environmentally benign way.
  • Manage the nitrogen cycle Engineers can help restore balance to the nitrogen cycle with better fertilization technologies and by capturing and recycling waste.
  • Prevent nuclear terror The need for technologies to prevent and respond to a nuclear attack is growing.
  • Develop carbon sequestration methods Engineers are working on ways to capture and store excess carbon dioxide to prevent global warming.
  • Engineer the tools of scientific discovery In the century ahead, engineers will continue to be partners with scientists in the great quest for understanding many unanswered questions of nature.
Shape the Future
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Committee Member Spotlight
Wesley Harris
Wesley Harris
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Wesley Harris is a member of the Committee on Grand Challenges for Engineering.
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  • 2015 NAE Forum: Grand Challenges; Part 1
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  • 2015 NAE Forum: Grand Challenges; Part 2
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Grand challenges in the news
View photos and videos from the 2017 Global Grand Challenges Summit!

Read the 2017 Summit overview, rewatch the entire Summit, and find clips and photos from each panel.

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Commitment to President Obama: 20,000 GRAND CHALLENGE ENGINEERS in a decade Schools will specially prepare new generation to take on societal aspirations

In a letter of commitment presented to President Barack Obama today, more than 120 U.S. engineering schools announced plans to educate a new generation of engineers expressly equipped to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing society in the 21st century.

In a letter of commitment presented to President Barack Obama, more than 120 U.S. engineering schools announced plans to educate a new generation of engineers expressly equipped to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing society in the 21st century.

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Working Together on the Global Grand Challenges

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