In 2008, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) identified 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century, including securing cyberspace. The Grand Challenges are a call to action and serve as a focal point for society’s attention to opportunities and challenges affecting our quality of life. To prepare students to be the generation that solves the grand challenges facing society in this century, the NAE developed the Grand Challenge Scholars Program.
The Texas A&M Grand Challenge Scholars Program (GCSP) is a selective, three-year program that will attract, retain and graduate future leaders who are equipped to solve engineering grand challenges facing our society today and in the future. The Grand Challenge scholar (GCS) will achieve in-depth understanding of their technical areas in the context of research related to a Grand Challenge problem while also gaining interdisciplinary, entrepreneurial, global and service learning expertise and experiences. Grand Challenge scholars will be prepared to be global leaders, in all sectors: academe, government and industry.