Executive Summary
The purpose of the paper was to identifu three challenges that engineers will be
facing in the next ten year and explaining the roles that engineers will have to
address these issues. The approach was to identifu issues that will directly
impact the survival of the population. The role of the engineer comes into play
with their technical and innovative ideas as well as their abiliry to arralyze a
complicated solution. The three challenges that were identified explain the
scarcity of fossil fuel, clean water, and the high environmental impact that is
being created by some of the current farming techniques being used. The main
role of the engineer in these scenarios is to fulfill the needs of the issue while
not heavily compromising another issue. Engineers have to analyze the
tradeoff of their solutions. The conclesion is”that as the population rises and as
the population desires an increase in the quality of life, engineers will have to
constantly invest their innovations and ideas that will allow for this change to
go smoothly. The recommendation is that both people and engineers need to
be educated on the challenges that will be facing our very existence.
Engineering Grand Challenges
Engineering Grand Challenges
Introduction
This paper is being written for those who wish to become aware and become motivated to
create solutions to some of the most critical challenges that society will be facing within the next
ten years. There are many challenges that society will be facing but these three challenges
deserve the most attention because they depend on the survival of the human race. The three
engineering challenges are the lack of fossil fuels that are currently being used to meet the
energy demands that are being faced, the environmental impact of artificial fertilizers adding a
dangerous excess of nitrogen to the ground, and finding new ways to meet the increasing demand
for clean water. The rolls that engineers have in these issues are to find solutions that address the
issue while not heavily impacting another problem in a negative way. For instance, increasing
the amount of fossil fuels being produced may fulfill society’s energy demands; however a
negative impact is being felt by both the environment and a growing dependency on a depleting
fuel source. Engineers have overcome the never ending issue of creating tradeoffs and
optimizing situations. These challenges were selected because energy, water’ and food all
depend directly on the survival of the human race. This paper will go more into detail explaining
the issues behind these three subjects and what specific roles engineers will play to find solutions
for these challenges.
Challenge 1: Fossil Fuei Reduction
As the population of the world grows the demand for energy is going to rise’ In 2014′ the
united states consumed approximately 81.366 quadrillion Btu of energy, 81’6% of which came
from fossil fuel. According to the u.S Energy Information Administration, electric power, and
transportation sectors are the leaders in energy consumption. Electricity and transportation are
extremely valuable to the U.S because they provide so much and without these supply chains
couldn’t exist as effrciently, communication would be hindered dramatically, and entire cities
would shut down and fail. The truth is that the U.S depends on having these services and
unfortunately the U.S relies on25Yo of this energy to come from petroleum,22o/o from coal, and
22Yo from natural gas. The main issue is that these are finite sources of energy that will only be
available in large quantities for a limited amount of time before they are available in smaller and
fewer quantities. Solar energy and fusion are just two examples of energy sources that engineers
are developing for the future. Solar energy is promising because its main power source is from
the sun; however the issue with solar panels is making them cost effective. Fusion is another
promising energy source as this reaction is the energy source for the sun, the energy with this
technology is reproducing the same reactions on a feasible scale. Engineers will have significant
roles in addressing this issue by finding technologies and multiple sources of energy that would
replace the amount of fossil fuels being used. Engineers can also find ways to reduce the
amount of energy that is consumed in a product by making them more efhcient. Most
importantly, engineers have to educate the population about the amount of energy they are
demanding and the how the people themselves can be apart of the solution as well as engineers.
These roles were selected by understanding the technical capabilities that engineers have.
Environmental Impact of Excess Nitrogen
One of human’s most basic needs is to consume food and with the world’s population rising
society is going to need more food if the population is going to be sustained. Nitrogen is an
essential part of a plant’s life cycle and is required during photosynthesis. Humans have tried to
amplifr a plant’s yield of food by exploiting this need and providing plants with nitrogen
fertilizers. The issue with this is that too much nitrogen creates the poison nitrous oxide which is
contaminating the drinking water, adding to pollution in the air, contributing to global warming,
and reducing the amount of ozone in the atmosphere. Engineers have the potential to help
prevent the atmosphere from trapping too much heat due to high amounts of nitrous oxide while
still maintaining the same amount of food output that is being created. Engineers will have a role
in developing new fertilizers, and recycling food waste technology. These roles are important
because safer less harmful fertilizers are required in order to reduce the amount of nitrogen being
produced and recycling food waste is beneficial because new nitrogen sources do not have to be
introduced. The next place for engineers to have an impact is in the efficiency of the fertilizers
being used. “Currently, less than half of the fixed nitrogen generated by farming practices actually ends
up in harvested crops” (The National Academies). Engineers will be facing the challenge of finding
where fertilizers are being wasted and how to distribute them to the plants more easily. These solutions
will have to keep up with food demand but not destroy the environment.
Providing More Clean Water
Water, like food, is an essentialpart of human’s existence for bodily and mental functions. Water is
used to grow food, clean things, and to drink. The issue here is that although water does exist in plentiful
quantities throughout the world, there isn’t access to clean water for everyone. 1 in 6 people do not have
access to clean water and these are the people that are dying from it. Although clean water may be
plentiful in one region of the world, there may be another that has none and must import all the water they
drink. Currently, water is provided from water sources such as rivers, lakes, and underground where the
water is plentiful and distributed to places where the water is scarce. These are scarce sources of water.
Engineers will play roles in how efFrciently water is being used. This is important because if the less
water can be used to perform the same tasks then less water will be needed. Secondly, engineers will
have to be able to find new ways to recycle and reuse the water that is currently being wasted. This is
important because it is going to increase the amount of water available if new water from sources plus
recyclable water can be used. Lastly, engineers are going to have a role in distributing the water
economically so that even rural areas can afford to have quick access to drinking water. Distribution is
important so that people don’t have to travel long distances to have one of life’s most precious resources.
The overall issue seems to be producing enough water and distributing it in an affordable fashion.
Conclusions
“As the population grows and its needs and desires expand, the problem of sustaining
civilization’s continuing advancement, while still improving the quality of life, looms more
immediate” (The National Academy). The population is at its largest as it has ever been and is
growing faster in the past 100 years compared to the rest of human existence by an alarming rate.
People require energy to sustain expansion and in the US depend on energy for survival.
Engineers’ main role in energy will be finding new ways to replace fossil fuels, and use them
more ef{iciently. People also require food if the population is going to expand. Engineers are
going to have to find a way to continue producing food while not destroying the environment.
Lastly, scarcity of clean water is an issue and engineers will have to learn how to clean and
recycle water without making it too expensive due to energy costs. These challenges were
selected because of their significant impact on the survival of the human race. The roles were
selected with knowledge of what engineers are capable of doing.
Recommendations
The population needs to become educated on the issues that the world is facing.
Engineers should at least be educated about the issues that the world is facing but should be a
part of the solutions. Overall, it is everyone’s responsibility to be knowledgeable about issues.
References
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