Desire to Change the World

Ever wanted to engineer the change that the world needs? As a student in the Innovation & Design Programme, you can participate in the Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) endorsed by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in the United States.

The Grand Challenges Scholars Program comprises five components that are designed to prepare students to be the generation that solves the grand challenges facing society in this century. A GSCP mentor will guide you through the following components:

• Talent competency: mentored research or creative experience on a Grand Challenge-like topic (see the list of Grand Challenges below).
• Multidisciplinary competency: understanding multidisciplinarity of engineering systems and solutions developed through personal engagement.
• Viable business or entrepreneurship competency: understanding, preferably developed through experience, of the necessity of a viable business model for suitable implementation.
• Multicultural competency: understanding different cultures, preferably through multicultural experiences, to ensure cultural acceptance of proposed engineering solutions.
• Social consciousness competency: understanding that engineering solutions should primarily serve people and society reflecting social consciousness.

The program deliverables are as follows:

• The GCSP Portfolio: a reflection on the work done for each of the components listed above.
• Service to the GCSP Community in NUS: support and mentor fellow scholars in the GCSP, take up leadership roles in GCSP activities, inspire junior students to join the GCSP, and outreach to other GCSP institutes and local pre-tertiary schools.