 Some of the brightest minds in the country -- including three
scholars from the University of Illinois -- met in September at the
2007 U.S.
Frontiers of Engineering symposium to discuss these and other
leading-edge developments in engineering and technology. The annual
event, sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering, brings
together outstanding engineers ages 30 to 45 who are performing
exceptional engineering research and technical work in a variety of
disciplines.Vijay Singh, a professor of agricultural and
biological engineering at the U of I, was one of the organizers of
the event this year. Singh, along with Richard Elander of the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, coordinated the session on
"Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals."
"The United States is overly dependent on imported petroleum for
its energy and chemical feedstock supply," said Singh. "As a result,
there's a resurgence of interest in technologies that are renewable,
sustainable, environmentally friendly and cost-effective. The talks
in our session focused on recent advances that are bringing these
technologies to commercial reality."
Some of these advances include corn-based chemistry for the
polymer industry, converting cellulosic feedstocks for biofuels
production, and sustainable energy solutions for the future.
Other sessions at the symposium addressed the issues of computer
safety, modeling human behavior, development of unique protein
structures and safe water technologies.
As an engineer, Singh said the primary advantage of this type of
meeting is "being exposed to developments and advances in other
areas that I can apply to my own field. The participants come from
very diverse backgrounds, and talking and interacting with them
encourages thinking that probably would not occur otherwise."
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 "I might learn about an analytical tool that someone else is
using to look at bone structure, but I can use it to look at corn
structure," he said.
Singh was asked to help organize the 2007 event after he attended
the symposium in 2006 as a participant at the Ford Research and
Innovation Center in Dearborn, Mich. He said being invited to
participate is in itself a great honor.
According to Singh, the National Academy of Engineering solicits
hundreds of nominations from industry, academia and the government.
From those nominations, a select number of people are asked to
apply. This year, about 260 engineers were invited to apply; and of
those, 83 were chosen to attend the symposium, which was at the
Microsoft Convention Center in Redmond, Wash.
Included in that group were two other engineers from the U of I:
Jennifer Bernhard, an associate professor in electrical and computer
engineering, and Michael Strano, an adjunct professor in chemical
and biomolecular engineering.
"These symposia really do explore the 'frontiers' of
engineering," Singh concluded. "Ten years from now, things people
are working on today will come into the marketplace, and these
engineers will be able to say, 'Oh, yeah, we talked about that at
the Microsoft symposium.' It gives you a fascinating window into the
future."
[Text from file received from
the University of Illinois
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences]
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