The 2010 NAE Grand Challenges Summit will bring together outstanding individuals from academia, business, government, medicine, communications, and other disciplines in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California campus on October 6-8, 2010.

Specific Summit Goals

• 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.

The Summit will discuss the impact and importance of the 14 Challenges from a number of perspectives:

Technology, Innovation, Business, Policy, Communication, Education

TECHNOLOGY

Technology encompasses the tools we use to interact with, control and adapt to the world. As the tools change, our lives and environment do, too. Experts will discuss how technology can be leveraged to address society's problems.

INNOVATION

Technology advances by the process of innovation. While that process usually originates in the fields of science and engineering, it draws upon other disciplines such as ethics and economics. Leading innovators will present their thoughts on how to encourage and accelerate the process of finding new ways to address old problems.

BUSINESS

The marketplace is often the testing ground for new products and technologies. It provides not only instant feedback, but also the incentive for businesses to take risks and innovate. Executives and entrepreneurs will discuss how corporations provide critical investment needed to push ahead on the Grand Challenges, and discuss how the solution can create economic opportunities.

POLICY

Scientists and engineers do not work in a vacuum, but rather in a society shaped by policies and procedures. This framework affects both what work is performed and how the end result is implemented. Policy can encourage or stifle innovation, can protect people and environments from the negative effects of technological innovation, or permit potentially destructive or harmful change. Policy makers will discuss the choices involved.

COMMUNICATION

The 21st century is experiencing a communication explosion, with media of all kinds putting more and more people into touch with each other. The speed of change means that the media world you fell asleep in is not the same one you'll wake up to. A diverse and illustrious group of panelists will communicate the scope of this remarkable panoply of new challenges and possibilities.

EDUCATION

Education is the institution by which knowledge and skills are transferred from one generation to the next. Attacking the Grand Challenges requires not only excellence in education, but incentives for students to enter science and engineering tracks. Prominent educators and policymakers will discuss how to prepare their successors for a world that faces a greater, more critical need for scientific minds.