14 grand challenges for engineering

A U.S. National Academy of Engineering committee today announced their list of 14 grand challenges for engineering this century. You can vote for which you think is the most important goal on the list. The Challenges:

• Make solar energy affordable • Provide energy from fusion • Develop carbon sequestration methods • Manage the nitrogen cycle • Provide access to clean water • Restore and improve urban infrastructure • Advance health informatics • Engineer better medicines • Reverse-engineer the brain • Prevent nuclear terror • Secure cyberspace • Enhance virtual reality • Advance personalized learning • Engineer the tools for scientific discovery

Rwanda: education, entertainment and entrepreneurship

At the AAAS conference Rwandan President Paul Kigami stated that Rwanda is working towards allocating 3% of GDP for science and technology, which is a rate equal to South Korea and greater than the U.S. Listen to Kigami and their science & technology minister talk about how they are upgrading their telecommunications infrastructure with goals of fiber to all local counties to facilitate everything from education to entertainment and entrepreneurship.