The third Global Grand Challenges Summit (GGCS), jointly organized by the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the U.K. Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), will be held July 18-20, 2017 on the campus of George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Based on the NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering, the GGCS series aims to spark global collaborations that lead to innovative ways of addressing critically important engineering challenges and inspiring the next generation of change makers. Previous summits were held in London and Beijing. The 2017 GGCS will focus on the four themes of the NAE Grand Challenges – sustainability, health, security and joy of living – as well as education and public engagement. Highlighted topics include virtual reality and artificial intelligence, engineering and health care, climate change and reverse engineering the brain.
“The challenges facing our world are not restricted by national boundaries – and neither are the solutions,” says RAE President Dame Ann Dowling. “Engineering is critical to solving these challenges and we see fantastic results when engineers the world over come together to share their expertise, ideas and innovations. The Global Grand Challenges Summit is a tremendous opportunity to inspire engineers, students and other members of the public to work together to build a better world.”
Rajiv Shah, recently named president of the Rockefeller Foundation and previous administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will give the keynote address. With more than 20 years of experience in business, government and philanthropy, Shah is reportedly an expert in creating public-private partnerships that support initiatives to improve quality of life throughout the developing world.
Speakers will include:
- Michael Abrash, chief scientist of Oculus.
- Deanne Bell, host of CNBC’s “Make Me a Millionaire Inventor.”
- Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for the United Kingdom.
- Jeffrey Dean, Google senior fellow.
- Dean Kamen, inventor, entrepreneur, and founder of FIRST Robotics.
- Christof Koch, president and CSO of the Allen Institute for Brain Science.
- Rikky Muller, co-founder of Cortera Neurotechnologies and assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at UC Berkeley.
- Molly Stevens, professor of biomedical materials and regenerative medicine at Imperial College London.
- Ding Yihui, senior advisor of China Meteorological Administration.
- Wu Zhiqiang, vice president of Tongji University.
- Representatives from The Boeing Company, the Lockheed Martin Corporation and the Northrop Grumman Corporation.
For more information, visit: www.ggcs2017.org
