NAE Grand Challenge Scholars

The National Academy of Engineering has identified fourteen challenges for engineers of the future. This list includes issues such as: making solar energy economical; advancing health informatics; providing access to clear water; and reverse engineering the brain. Both the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Engineering are proposing that engineering schools around the country create programs that combine curricular and co-curricular activities that address these challenges.

The Grand Challenges Scholar Program recognizes graduating seniors who have engaged in educational and co-curricular activities surrounding these grand challenge topics. Students receive transcript designation as a Grand Challenges Scholar upon graduation.

The five curricular components of the Grand Challenges Scholar Program (GCSP) are as follows:

1. Class project or independent student research.
   Each GCSP student must participate in a substantial team or independent project relating to an identified Grand Challenge. Examples: senior theses, on-site internships, and cap stone projects.
    
2. Interdisciplinary curriculum.
   Participation in an “engineering – plus” curriculum that prepares engineering students to work at the overlap between engineering and non-engineering disciplines, such as public policy, business, law, ethics, sociology, medicine and the natural sciences. This must be more than simply double-majoring or minoring. Specifically, the curriculum must have a formal mechanism that draws together the two components, such as with a senior theses, research topic or cap stone design project.
    
3. Entrepreneurship.
   Students must be exposed to the process of translating invention to innovation; to develop market ventures that scale to global solutions in the public interest. Examples: completing classes in marketing, intellectual property, participating in start-up competitions, performing in a related industrial internship.
    
4. Global dimension.
   Student must participate in a curricular component that develops a perspective necessary to understand challenges that are inherently global in nature or lead to innovations in a global economy. Examples: conducting research related to global health issues, non-profit marketing, or low-cost manufacturing.
    
5. Service learning.
   Students must participate in a component that deepens their social awareness and heightens their motivation to bring their technical expertise to bear on societal problems. Example: participating in activities or conducting research in an area with a clear component of improving the human condition. A well-designed and well-documented volunteer activity could satisfy this component, such as participating in projects with Engineers without Borders or Engineering World Health.