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The National Academy of Engineering identified 14 grand challenges in the 21st century for improving life on the planet. These challenges fall under 4 themes (sustainability, health, security, and joy of living). The Grand Challenges Scholars program was stemmed from NAE at the university level to help prepare students to address these grand challenges globally through various competencies.
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For more information about the NAE Grand Challenges program, click here!
Why did I choose to participate in the program?
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I wanted to join the Grand Challenge program at U.M.B.C. because I saw how this program’s mission could help me in my future in exploring the fields of Mechanical Engineering with an interdisciplinary perspective and approach to solve 21st-century societal problems.
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For more information about the GCSP program at U.M.B.C., click here!
My Grand Challenge
Restore and Improve Urban Infrastructure
"Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody."
-Jane Jacobs
Why did I choose this Grand Challenge?
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The preservation and protection of the environment we live in has been an essential concern I have had since I was a child. Although I was born in the city of Taipei, I grew up in a suburban town in Maryland within close proximity of Baltimore. The observations I have accumulated throughout my childhood and my experiences traveling within the country and abroad have influenced my perspective of how infrastructure supports the people in a community, region or even a country. As technology and society are advancing to provide greater safety and resources for people, it has led me to develop a desire to help improve the design of the transportation and energy as well as water and waste systems to sustain and improve our urban environment.
