COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & SCIENCE

Grand Challenge Scholars Program

Louisiana Tech is one of the few select schools in the World to have a dedicated Grand Challenge Scholars Program. As a member of this program, students can engage in Grand Challenge-related research with our research faculty, serve fellow students, pursue the topics that are shaping tomorrow, gain appreciation and understanding of cultures around the world, and graduate as an internationally recognized Grand Challenge Scholar.

The National Academy of Engineering has outlined four themes that encompass the World’s most complicated and important challenges. Within these themes lie fourteen Engineering Grand Challenges. Solving these challenges will require the best efforts of engineers and scientists integrating their knowledge, expertise, and creativity with a variety of other experts in global and social issues. The Academy’s Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) is designed to prepare our engineering and science students to solve these issues.

The vision of the Louisiana Tech College of Engineering and Science GCSP is to encourage, educate and prepare our students to lead the charge in addressing these critical challenges.

Become a Louisiana Tech Grand Challenge Scholar

Louisiana Tech is one of the few select schools in the World to have a dedicated GC Scholars Program. As a member of this program, students pursue topics that are shaping tomorrow, gain appreciation and understanding of cultures around the world, and graduate as an internationally recognized GC Scholar. There are 5 core competencies that students explore as part of the GCSP. These make up the “curricular plan” for students

Louisiana Tech faculty are ready to help you create your own, personalized plan that walks through these elements. The good news is, you’re doing some of these already as part of your regular curriculum:

  1. Talent Competency: a mentored creative experience on a Grand Challenge-like topic

  2. Multidisciplinary Competency: understanding the multidisciplinarity of engineering systems

  3. Viable Business/Entrepreneurship Competency: understanding the necessity of a viable business model to implement solutions

  4. Multicultural Competency: understanding different cultures to ensure cultural acceptance of proposed solutions

  5. Social Consciousness Competency: understanding that engineering solutions should primarily serve people and society, reflecting social consciousness

We’re on Canvas!

Get in contact with us using any of the ways below, and we’ll get you started. Every Grand Challenge student will be paired with a faculty mentor and go through a simple application on Canvas. Working with your mentor, you’ll form your Curricular Plan that engages each of the 5 curricular elements.

A sample plan is included so you can see what a curricular plan can look like, and how you’ve already started on some parts of it.

Four Grand Challenge Themes

  1. Sustainability
  2. Health
  3. Joy of Living
  4. Security

The 14 National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges

  1. Make solar energy economical
  2. Provide energy from fusion
  3. Develop carbon sequestration methods
  4. Manage the nitrogen cycle
  5. Provide access to clean water
  6. Restore and improve urban infrastructure
  7. Advance health informatics
  8. Engineer better medicines
  9. Reverse-engineer the brain
  10. Prevent nuclear terror
  11. Secure cyberspace
  12. Enhance virtual reality
  13. Advance personalized learning
  14. Engineer the tools of scientific discovery

Interested in More Information?

The survey below can help you get in touch and get connected.

Louisiana Tech College of Engineering & Science Grand Challenge Scholars Program Application & Curricular Plan (2019+) Note: Annual progress ‘check-ins’ with GCSP faculty mentors to help make adjustments to your plan as you go. Be sure to sit down with a GCSP mentor to help plan this initial application document before submitting online to Moodle. 5 GC Competencies: Each GC Scholar Apprentice must develop a Curricular Plan which satisfactorily addresses each of the following competencies. Each GCSP Apprentice must complete at least one of the five competencies at a Level 3 and at most one at a Level 1 . 1) Talent Competency: mentored research / creative experience on a Grand Challenge-like topic Your plan should include one of the following: ________ Level 1: GC theme-related freshman design project and course(s) ________ Level 2: GC theme-related senior design project and course(s) ________ Level 3: ______150 hours faculty-supervised GC-related research* OR ______ GC-related Internship Experience* OR ______ GC-related REU Program* *To complete this competency, students must also participate in one of the below, that summarizes their work: ______ A poster/presentation at a scholarly meeting OR ______ A peer-reviewed technical publication Additional information:_______________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 1

Contact Us

Stop by the Grand Challenge Scholars Program Office at Bogard Hall 253 or contact any of our Steering Committee members.

Director Leland Weiss, PhD

Dr. Bryant Hollins

Dr. Elizabeth Matthews