Rice engineering joins Grand Challenges Initiative
In a public letter to President Barack Obama, Rice University joined 121 other American engineering schools Monday in committing to prepare engineers to address a number of “Grand Challenges” facing modern society.
The letter, signed by Dean of Engineering Edwin Thomas, mentioned Introduction to Engineering Design (ENGI 120), Senior Capstone Design, the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership and Engineers Without Borders as examples of Rice’s ability to successfully educate engineering students.
According to the website of the National Academy of Engineering, which coordinated the Grand Challenges initiative, the initiative targets a set of 14 challenges developed with the White House Strategy for American Innovation and the United Nations Millenium Development Goals. Each of the committed schools plans to graduate at least 20 students each year who are prepared to work toward solving these issues.
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