Electrification. Electronics, computers and the internet. Radio, TV and highways.
These are just some of the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century. This site lists down the top 20.
Now living in the 21st century, we probably take these for granted. I combed through each one and initially concluded that there were only two items I have not encountered or used personally. I was wrong since number 20 is extensively used in medicine, specially with cancer treatment. That leaves only number 12, but that is something that I hope Sir Richard Branson and his baby or kin would give me the opportunity to experience.
The current time also leaves us with a lot of obstacles, identified here.
With input from people around the world — much of it on this website – an international group of leading technological thinkers were asked to identify the Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century.
They came up with these:
Make solar energy economical
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 of scientific discovery
If the world can overcome all of these challenges, a new era will dawn upon us. I can’t even begin to imagine how things would be much better.
Already, thinkers, inventors, researchers, engineers and scientists are working on these.
Every person on earth stand to benefit from solving these riddles.
There is also a poll on the site that ranked “Making solar energy economical” as the most “popular/important” challenge. I agree. But there is another challenge that is close to my heart which is Advanced Personal Learning. I think this is key to solving poverty, wars and disease. If this is solved, I think the rest would just follow.
Which challenge, when solved, would create the greatest impact on our world?
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Though this website is not the crowd-drawer I’ve envisioned it to be, there are two post that have been getting non-blogger’s attention.
The first one is a review of Og Mandino’s The Greatest Miracle in the World. Originally posted in August 2005, it still draws some searches and comments. You know these are not your regular commenters which probably gives you an idea what led them to the post in the first place.
The second one is about Distance Education and eLearning from UP’s perspective, which is actually not mine buy I got permission to re-post it.
A common thread that I see is about schooling. The Greatest Miracle in the World is probably part of the reading requirement in some schools - a book report - judging from the requests for a summary. The queries about distance education were mostly about information, thus I just point them to UPOU.org
Though it is quite a jump, I’d like to conclude think that we still have a culture and predisposition to learning. We might be at that point where we are truly aware of the power of the internet for education.
Who knows, maybe we will play a major part in the next education revolution.
Abe posts in PTB about the Asus EEE Design Contest. I’ve got design ideas. If I could only find a designer to team up with…
Noemi has a Lovestruck Writing Contest going on to celebrate her 3 anniversaries.
Filipina Stories from WikiPilipinas in collaboration with Filipina Images. Winners will be announced at the unveiling of the Encyclopedia of Philippine Women.
The Philippine Blog Awards 2008 will be announcing some details soon. Who will be this year’s winners?
PinoyMoneyTalk is holding Countdown to 3, for PMT’s third anniversary.
Are there other contests around?
Update:
HappySlip Meet and Greet on February 7 at the Mag:net Cafe at Bonifacio High Street. I had to decline because it’s a regular work day. Must pay the bills and feed the children first. =) Registration is (or was) at happyslip.yehey.com though the link is not working for me (maybe there is just too much traffic or the registration is over).
Have fun !
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385 484 642 comments (and counting) for her touching first-day post. Wow. Phenomenal!
Christine Gambito, that gorgeous, talented, famous and “rooted” Filipina of HappySlip.com is here in Manila courtesy of the Department of Tourism’s Experience Philippines project. She has been recently appointed as Ambassador for Philippine Tourism (source: Wikipedia)
An RN, Christine she chose to pursue her passion for acting and established her own “broadcast station” - the internet. She created her own channel in YouTube. She has a following that continues to grow. It is safe to think that she has not even begun yet. You can bet she will be guesting in several talk shows, game shows and sitcoms. TV crews will be following her wherever she goes.
As I’ve told many people who have the talent and skill, you can do it (be known, appreciated, acknowledge, make a living, sell, etc) through the web.
Take a cue from one internet celebrity we can call our own, Christine “HappySlip” Gambito.
It would be cool to have a picture taken with her.
Cooler if I can record a video of us talking. Or maybe in a skit. (Jun’s delusions of grandeur)
Via Anton of OurAweSomePlanet.com his post here.
Photo from HappySlip.com’s About page.
