Longer Only About Technology Anymore - Are You Ready?

We live in an age of complex systems: political, environmental, behavioral, economic, etc. This complexity requires engineers to take a more holistic and creative approach to solving problems. Relying on technical solutions to the exclusion of designing for human complexity will not create the type infrastructure and services 21st Century communities need.

How will this look? What will engineers need to do differently in the future? What new skills will tomorrow's engineers need to have? How will engineers need to expand their thinking? This program explores the qualities of the 21st Century Engineer and the challenges facing the engineering and public works communities as we design for the societal, economic, and cultural systems of the future. A very well-respected member of the engineering community, Dr. Grasso is the Vice President for Research and the Dean of the Graduate College at the University of Vermont. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Environmental Engineering Science, and has served in many advisory roles, including being Vice-Chair of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board.

At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be better able to:

• Advocate for engineering education that teaches students that "thinking like an engineer" means going beyond technological solutions to addressing innovative design and problem-solving for humanity.
• Interpret today's infrastructure needs and realities as complex, holistic systems.
• Define the 21st century's successful and effective engineer as one who understands the correlation between engineering and the social systems it serves.