\u201cI thought it was super interesting to be able to engage with one topic, from so many different perspectives,\u201d says Salomon, a biomedical engineering major from Schortens, Germany. \u201cThat really is the future of science.\u201d<\/p>\n
The GCS program invites undergraduates to pick one of 14 \u201cgrand challenges\u201d<\/a> of the 21st century, identified by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Students then tailor their academic experiences to address the challenge they\u2019ve chosen, engaging in five key competencies: research, entrepreneurship, interdisciplinary studies, global experience, and service.<\/p>\n As they near the end of their programs, they prepare a report reflecting on their GCS experience. Many have also entered posters in the University\u2019s Undergraduate Research Expo and described their experiences in Q-and-A\u2019s and profiles.<\/p>\n Students who complete the program receive a gold medallion and a certificate.<\/p>\n Salomon successfully addressed the challenge of engineering better medicines by participating as team leader for the University\u2019s award-winning 2021 iGEM team<\/a>. The team combined research and design to create a novel device that diagnoses sepsis based on biomarkers in a person\u2019s sweat. In addition, the team worked to increase awareness of sepsis and synthetic biology through a variety of education and outreach programs. Team members also became well versed in entrepreneurial considerations and regulatory policies.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to think beyond just your standard lab work or research,\u201d says Salomon. \u201cYou have to think about all these other perspectives, like who is this product for, how will they think about it, what are their needs, how can I provide a service to the community, and how will this work from a more innovative entrepreneurship perspective?\u201d<\/p>\n GCS alumnus Beauclaire Mbanya<\/a> \u201920, a Rhodes Scholar, says the required competencies equip students with a \u201cmultifaceted solution-oriented mindset\u201d to not only address 21st-century challenges but to \u201ccontribute to the good of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n This marks the fifth year since Wendi Heinzelman, dean of the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, secured the University\u2019s participation in the national Grand Challenges Scholars Program. Though administered by the Hajim School, the Rochester program has also attracted students from 15 majors outside of engineering, including biological sciences, business, and music.<\/p>\n \u201cI love this program,\u201d English major Shannon Lue Chee Lip<\/a> \u201921 wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the few opportunities I\u2019ve found for humanities students to meaningfully collaborate with the STEM field to solve global problems.\u201d Lip addressed the challenge of advancing personalized learning.<\/p>\n Of the 51 students who have successfully completed the program, more than half (27) are women, and more than half (29) are international students. They have addressed all but one of the 14 grand challenges. \u201cProviding access to clean water,\u201d \u201cengineering better medicines,\u201d and \u201ccreating the tools of scientific discovery\u201d are the most popular.<\/p>\n \u201cI am hoping we can continue to grow the program,\u201d Heinzelman says. \u201cIt has been really positive and productive.\u201d<\/p>\n GCS director Emma Derisi says she\u2019s been able to establish partnerships with several other campus offices and programs, such as iZone<\/a>, the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship<\/a>, the Center for Community Engagement<\/a>, and iGEM, plus numerous student clubs<\/a>. These partnerships have created more ways for students to satisfy GCS competencies.<\/p>\n For example, students new to the program worry that the only way to satisfy the entrepreneurship competency is to start a company of their own.<\/p>\n \u201cI tell them it\u2019s great if you do\u2014but you don\u2019t have to,\u201d Derisi says. \u201cThere are other ways you can fulfill the requirement, through workshops and competitions at the Ain Center, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n Initially the program was aimed at highly motivated first- and second-year students who would use the program as a new type of framework to take ownership of their learning experience here. The idea was to provide the students not only a personalized, well-rounded educational experience, but a valuable talking point when seeking jobs or applying to graduate schools.<\/p>\n However, most students have qualified as juniors or seniors.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason for that is it\u2019s very difficult for most first- and second-year students to understand the context of what they\u2019re doing,\u201d Derisi says. \u201cThey\u2019re busy taking their required classes. And they are maybe just starting to dabble in what they\u2019re going to do for their clusters<\/a> and getting involved in clubs and other activities. But it isn\u2019t until later that they start to see how those fields intersect and begin to explore what they can make of it.\u201d<\/p>\n The University\u2014a tier 1 research institution with a strong focus on liberal arts and entrepreneurship\u2014is tailor made for Grand Challenges Scholars to make the most of those intersections. That\u2019s especially the case given the University\u2019s Meliora<\/a> (\u201cever better\u201d) culture, which brings together a highly motivated, diverse group of undergraduates and gives them the opportunity to fully explore their passions through a unique open curriculum<\/a>.<\/p>\n The University\u2019s open curriculum, for example, allowed Mark Westman<\/a> \u201920 to not only pursue a rigorous mechanical engineering major, but complete a cluster of classes on the topic of War, Revolution, and Society. <\/em>The course cluster enabled him to \u201cdig deeper into both historical and ongoing global conflicts\u201d while addressing the challenge of preventing nuclear terror.<\/p>\n Muhammad Miqdad<\/a> \u201919, a chemical engineering major, completed four courses in economics and political science, \u201cwhich shaped my understanding of the economics of water around the world,\u201d he wrote, while addressing the challenge of providing access to clean water.<\/p>\n Especially for international students, GCS is an opportunity to confront problems that directly affect their families and friends back home.<\/p>\n For example, Miqdad, who is from Pakistan, enlisted fellow Grand Challenges Scholar Afnan Ahmed \u201921 (business), Claude Mulindi<\/a> \u201922 (engineering science), and Kareem Abdelmaqsoud<\/a> \u201922 (chemical engineering) on his EZ Water team. They won the Ain Center\u2019s Forbes Entrepreneurial Competition<\/a> pitching a plan to provide cheap, reliable drinking water in Pakistan. Miqdad later used the prize money to install wells for drinking water<\/a> in remote villages of Pakistan\u2019s Thar desert.<\/p>\n For Miqdad, the value of the Grand Challenges Program is \u201ca community of students dedicated towards solving key challenges around the world. I believe that is the greatest support, inspiration, and exposure a college student can have going forward in life!\u201d<\/p>\n One of the greatest benefits, students say, is the reflection they write describing the ways they satisfied the various competencies while addressing a specific challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an undergraduate, you major in something, but how do you showcase what you actually focused on?\u201d wrote Raymond Chin<\/a> \u201918, a biomedical engineering graduate who addressed the challenge of engineering better medicine. He is now a senior associate vaccines scientist at Pfizer.<\/p>\n \u201cGrand Challenges puts what I did as an undergraduate all together. It\u2019s connecting all the dots, fitting it under an umbrella so that it all makes sense to you.\u201d<\/p>\n That is what makes Derisi especially proud as she watches Grand Challenges Scholars receive their gold medallions.<\/p>\n \u201cOur students leave here understanding how all of the things they did during their four years of college all come together,\u201d she says. \u201cThey have a better understanding of the value of what they\u2019ve done, and how it fits in the bigger picture of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information, contact the Grand Challenges Scholars Program director, Emma Derisi, at emma.derisi@rochester.edu\u00a0<\/a>or (585) 275-2354.<\/p>\nGrand Challenges Scholars attracts students in sciences and humanities, as well as engineering <\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"large](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gcs-ewb.jpg\")
Program co<\/strong>mplements University of Rochester\u2019s open curriculum<\/strong><\/h3>\n
GCS helps student see \u2018the bigger picture of their lives\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n
To learn more<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nRead more<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"student](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fea-what-is-sepsis-diagnosis-bio-spire.jpg\")
Rochester students\u2019 award-winning device instantly detects sepsis via sweat<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![\"three](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/fea-eva-hansen-ewb.jpg\")
Students tackle grand engineering challenges<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![\"student](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/fea-curriculum-graduation-cap.jpg\")
The Rochester Curriculum: Freedom, with intentionality<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n