About FOE

From novel applications of microbes to DEI in engineering to the potential for hydrogen energy, Frontiers of Engineering participants tackle today’s challenging world issues. The winter issue of The Bridge showcases research by early-career engineers as shared at the 2022 US FOE symposium.

The NAE typically dedicates the winter issue of The Bridge to papers from The Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering US symposium, held in September each year. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 US FOE was rescheduled to February 25–26, 2021. This issue presents a selection of papers from the 2020 and 2021 US FOE meetings.

This volume includes 12 papers from the National Academy of Engineering's 2019 US Frontiers of Engineering (US FOE) Symposium held in September 2019. US FOE meetings bring together 100 outstanding early career engineers to exchange information about leading-edge technologies in a range of engineering fields. The 2019 symposium covered four topic areas: Advanced Manufacturing in the Age of Digital Transformation; Engineering the Genome; Self-Driving Cars: Technology and Ethics; and Blockchain Technology. The papers describe leading-edge research on these topics, among others: next-generation robotic locomotion, using CRISPR to combat human disease vectors, the ethics of autonomous vehicles, and blockchain technology. Appendixes include information about contributors, the symposium program, and participants. This is the 25th volume in the US Frontiers of Engineering series.

This volume includes 12 papers from the National Academy of Engineering's 2018 US Frontiers of Engineering (US FOE) Symposium held in September 2018. US FOE meetings bring together 100 outstanding engineers (ages 30 to 45) to exchange information about leading-edge technologies in a range of engineering fields. The 2018 symposium covered four topic areas: Quantum Computers: Are We There Yet?, the Role of Engineering in the Face of Conflict and Disaster, Resilient and Reliable Infrastructure, and Theranostics. The papers describe leading-edge research on these topics, among others: quantum computing, combining formal and informal structures in crisis response, infrastructure resilience, and immune theranostics. Appendixes include information about contributors, the symposium program, and participants. This is the 24th volume in the US Frontiers of Engineering series.

In this episode of the McKinsey Global Institute’s Forward Thinking podcast, 3M's Jayshree Seth (USFOE 2008) discusses how the human context can be brought into the practice of science and engineering, expanding talent pipelines into STEM fields, and the role of leadership in technical fields.

Come on Barbie, let’s go party…with this week’s episode of The Circuit News just in time for the recent premiere of the Barbie movie! In partnership with USC Viterbi School of Engineering, NAE's weekly social-forward news show dedicated to promoting engineering to the public highlights engineering stories from academia, industry, government, pop culture, and K-12.

FOE alum Kayla Sprenger at CU Boulder is integrating approaches at the crossroads of physics, engineering, and immunology in close synergy with experimentalists and clinicians to develop vaccines for diseases like HIV, break down mixed plastic waste streams into valuable chemicals, and address other challenges in energy and health fields.

From novel applications of microbes to DEI in engineering to the potential for hydrogen energy, Frontiers of Engineering participants tackle today’s challenging world issues. The winter issue of The Bridge showcases research by early-career engineers as shared at the 2022 US FOE symposium.

In a podcast episode, FOE alum Shirley Meng at Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago discusses the need to engineer different metals and elements that could last longer and charge faster than our current lithium-ion batteries.

NAE member Darryll Pines at the University of Maryland Global Campus and Gregory Washington (USFOE 2004) at George Mason University are assembling nonpartisan, data-driven, research-based faculty experts from engineering and other disciplines to educate our communities about gun violence.