Perspective: Preparing Leaders to Engineer Sustainability and Resilience Across the Food Chain Through the Grand Challenges Scholars Program

Abstract

Highlights Addressing the complex political, economic, and societal challenges inherent in sustainable agriculture and food production requires interdisciplinary thinking and approaches. Relevant pedagogical models and extracurricular experiences can be provided by the Grand Challenges Scholars Program, now spread to nearly 100 universities globally. The complexities of agriculture and food production today can be addressed by future engineering leaders based on this program. Abstract. The education of engineers and other professionals to address the global grand challenge of sustainable food production will require much more than excellent technical skills. New mindsets, human-centered design principles, and collaborative leadership skills will be required to develop leaders who will be successful in addressing the complex political, economic, and societal challenges inherent in sustainable agriculture and food production today. This will require supplementing—not replacing—the technical core of engineering education with new pedagogical models and extracurricular experiences. One such model that has proven effective in this area and has spread to nearly 100 universities globally is the Grand Challenges Scholars Program. This article explains how the complexities of agriculture and food production today can be addressed by future engineering leaders based on this program. Keywords: Food chain, Sustainable agriculture.