require technological innovations and applications of systems thinking. Further, NAE argues that the solutions call upon engineers to persuasively influence "...public policy, transfer technical innovation to the market place, and to inform and be informed by social science and the humanities." The NAE's Grand Challenges overlap with the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals and its 2015 successor, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which all depend upon "a strong engineering component" for success. Development of the Grand Challenges (2008) The Academy introduced its "Grand Challenges for Engineering" project in 2007 with the commissioning of a blue-ribbon committee composed of leading technological thinkers from around the globe. The committee, led by former Secretary of Defense William Perry was charged with the task of identifying "..key engineering challenges for improving life in the 21st century." NAE's intent was to develop a set of challenges of such importance that they warranted serious investment and if successful, would "lead to a marked improvement in our quality of life." The project received "...thousands of inputs from around the world to determine its list of Grand Challenges for Engineering, and its report was reviewed by more than 50 subject-matter experts, making it among the most reviewed of Academy studies." In February 2008, the committee announced 14 Engineering Grand Challenges fitting into four broad categories: energy, sustainability, and global climate change; medicine, health informatics and health care delivery systems; reducing our vulnerability to natural and human threats; and advancing the human spirit and capabilities. NAE noted that a number of engineering schools had developed coursework based upon Grand Challenge themes. The 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering developed by the NAE committee were to: Make solar energy economical Provide energy from fusion Develop carbon sequestration 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. NAE noted in its report that the Grand Challenges for Engineering were not "...ranked in importance or likelihood of solution, nor was any strategy proposed for solving them. Rather, they were offered as a way to inspire the profession, young people, and the public at large to seek the solutions." NAE also stated that the Grand Challenges were "...not targeted to any one country or corporate sector... (and)... are relevant to everyone in every