Conference Theme

The theme "Solutions for a Shrinking Planet: Sustainable Engineering and Enterprise for Human Development" reflects many levels of technology-based development that the 2004 conference seeks to address.

First, we hope to emphasize the opening and closing words. Engineers for a Sustainable Future seeks to create and implement technology-based solutions to concerns of developing communities. We are an organization of action, and we hope this conference will mobilize chapters around the country. We must never forget the motivation for our activism, however, and that is human development. We seek to secure basic human rights for every individual on the planet.

Second, the conference will address the question of what comprises and appropriate engineering-based solution to a given problem through many lenses. We will examine the interface between technologies and social/cultural concerns, environmental issues, and local and global market forces. It is our hope that conference attendees will acquire the tools to confront the technical needs of the developing world holistically.

Finally, the phrase "Shrinking Planet" is multi-layered. Our planet indeed grows effectively smaller in two ways. As the world population continues to boom, more and more people struggle to share Earth's finite resources. On the other hand, communications technology, transportation infrastructure, and global alliances make physical separation easily surmountable. Indeed, these networks make the work of organizations like Engineers for a Sustainable Future possible. Ultimately, this conference will address the ways in which socially-conscious engineers and scientists can use the positive consequences of globalization to counter the negative ones.