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DesRoches Chairs Infrastructure Discussion for NAE Frontiers of Engineering
Dr. Reginald DesRoches, professor and associate chair in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), was one of four young engineers from the U.S. selected to co-chair and organize the first National Academy of Engineering (NAE) China-America Frontiers of Engineering program. This first-time event brought together 40 young engineers (between the ages of 30-45) who perform exceptional research and technical work in a variety of engineering disciplines. The program was hosted in the cities of Beijing and Changsha, China on October 17-21.
Representing industry, academia, and government, participants of this program were nominated by fellow engineers, organizations, deans, funding agencies, and members of NAE. The selection criteria were based on demonstrated accomplishment in engineering research and technical work with recognizable contributions to advancing the Frontiers of Engineering program. In addition, the nominees must show an interest in engineering developments in other fields and consider how advances, techniques, and approaches in other areas relate to his/her own field. Last, nominees must show potential to be a future leader in the U.S. engineering endeavor.
"America's competitiveness will largely depend upon the next generation of innovators," said NAE President Charles M. Vest. "The U.S. Frontiers of Engineering program brings some of the country's rising-star engineers, from a diverse range of disciplines, together for an exchange of ideas that will surely help contribute to keeping us at the forefront of technological advancement and may even spark a breakthrough that changes the way we live."
DesRoches, who specializes in disaster resilient infrastructure systems, organized and chaired the session entitled "Next Generation of Sustainable and Disaster Resilient Infrastructure" - a topic that is critical and timely for both the U.S. and China. Presentations from both countries focused on the use of new materials, high performance computing, and sensing technologies to build more disaster resilient infrastructure systems. "The U.S. and China are facing very significant, albeit very different challenges," says DesRoches. "Infrastructure in the U.S. is rapidly aging and deteriorating, as is illustrated in some recent failures of infrastructure systems. In China, the infrastructure is very new. It's growing at an unprecedented pace and must be constructed to service a rapidly growing urban population. Both countries, however, are vulnerable to the effects of natural hazards. The symposium provided us with an excellent forum to discuss the challenges and emerging technologies that will form solutions for the future."
Other program topics included sustainable energy, intelligent transportation systems, and engineering food safety for public health.
The goal of NAE's bi-lateral Frontiers of Engineering program is to convene engineers from disparate fields and challenge them to think about developments and problems at the frontiers of areas different from their own, with the hope that this will lead to a variety of desirable results. These include collaborative work, the transfer of new techniques and approaches across fields, and establishment of contacts among the next generation of leaders in engineering. To learn more about the NAE Frontiers of Engineering program, visit http://www.nae.edu/frontiers.