STIR Workshop 4February 16, 2011 

Seamless Integration of Technology & SocietyTechnology & Societyfor a Sustainable Future

Introduction Major challenges facing humanity & a

sustainable future IMECE Panel Nov 2010 Vancouver IMECE Panel Nov 2010, Vancouver

o Relevant questions

A winning strategy for a sustainable future

Roop L. Mahajan

Tucker Chair Professor Director, ICTAS

Innovationo Incremental & Black Swano Seamless integration of T &S

Director, ICTASInstitute for Critical Technology 

and Applied Science mahajanr@vt.edu 

Concluding remarks

A few Nuggets

• Innovation‐ a key to solving humanity’s major  problems 

• Major problems –energy, water, .. are complex, require multiple perspectives

• IDR or integration of the sciences –physical, life, social‐‐ key to solving these problems

B d f i i bl h i i Buds of creativity bloom at the intersections Bringing natural and social scientists together promotes self‐reflection 

necessary for generating solutions for a sustainable future Integration needs to be seamless not adhoc Integration needs to be seamless –not adhoc

• My experience Education and researchEducation and research Rewarding,  for me, for my students, for my institution, and for society

• Through seamless integration, we can build a SUSTAINBLE future

“The supreme reality of our 

time is the vulnerability oftime is the vulnerability of 

the planet.”J h F K d J 28 1963‐ John F. Kennedy, June 28, 1963  

President’s address before a Joint Session

of the Dail and  Seanad, Dublin, Ireland.

More true today than 

ever beforeever before.

What are our vulnerabilities?

Looking aheadg

Top Ten problems of H i f 50Humanity for next 50 years

1. Energy2. Water3 F d These problems3. Food4. Environment5. Poverty6. Terrorism & War7 Di

These problems are complex are challenging are interconnected i lti l7. Disease

8. Education9. Democracy10. Population

require multiple perspectives

Richard E. Smalley , noted scientist and Nobel prize winner

Source: Energy and NanotechnologySource: Energy and Nanotechnology Conference, Rice University, May 3, 2003

Demographics

6

8

10

mill

ions

)

OceaniaN. AmericaS. AmericaE

40% of the world’s

l ti i

2

4

6

Popu

latio

n (m Europe

AsiaAfrica

population is

in the fast developing

regions01750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 2050

AfricaOceana

N. America AfricaOceana

N. America Africa

OceanaN. America Africa

OceanaN. America

regions.

2005

S. America

Europe

20052005

S. America

Europe

2050

S. America

Europe

2050

S. America

Europe

6.5 Billion6.5 Billion6.5 Billion2050

8.9 Billion

20508.9 Billion

AsiaAsia AsiaAsia

Source: msd-energy-croatia.ppt

Prosperity, Energy Demand 

)

Energy demand and GDP per capita (1980‐2002)

apita

(GJ)

As GDP increases, 

rgy

per c

a

so does the demand for energy

mar

y en

er energy 

Prim

GDP per capita (purchasing power parity)( g y)

2100: 40-50 TW 2050: 25-30 TW2000: 13 TW

20 00

25.00

World Energy Demandtotal

Energy Gap 15.00

20.00

TW

d lgy p

2050: 14 TW

2100: 34 TW 5.00

10.00 industrial

developing

US

ee/fsu

1 TW= 1,000 GW

EIA Intl Energy Outlook 2004http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/index.html

0.00

1970 1990 2010 2030

ee/fsu

How do we meet this gap? By building new power plants?  

Hoffert et al Nature 395, 883,1998; msd‐energy‐croatia.ppt

Building one 1‐GW power plant/day will take 38 years !!

What is the impact on environment? 

Who wants this?

Environmental 

380 1.5

340

360

(ppm

v) Tem0.5

1.0-- CO2-- Global Mean Temp

280

300

320m

osph

eric

CO

2

perature (°C)- 0.5

0

240

260

Atm

- 1.5

- 1.0

12001000 1400 1600 1800 2000Year AD

Tipping points on temperature and CO2 level indicate urgency

Climate Change 2001: T he Scientific Basis, Fig 2.22

J. R. Petit et al, Nature 399, 429, 1999 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001

http://www.ipcc.chN. Oreskes, Science 306, 1686, 2004

D. A. Stainforth et al, Nature 433, 403, 2005

2010 Cancun Climate Summit29 Nov-Dec 10

Cancun Climate Change Conferenceagrees plan to cut carbon emissions

CLIMATE CHANGEHIGH HOPES, SLOW PROGRESS

However…

• Developing countries want to alleviate poverty and aspire to be Developed

– To sustain a >10% growth rate/yr, China is adding ~1 coal‐fired power plant/week  and has overtaken the US as the largest polluter

– India cannot sustain its ~8% growth rate/yr without an order of magnitude increase in power generation and industrial output and hence, Green House Gas (GHG) emissions

• Developed countries do not want to reduce GHG emissions fast enough as it will impact their already troubled economies

Bottom Line

Clearly, we need new solutions• Economic growth

• Preserve our environment  

Perhaps game changer technologies Perhaps game changer technologies

Why not ?

We have a pretty good record  

Looking back

Imagine life at the dawn of the 20th century

• Radio, TV, computers, and the Internet did not exist

• No Facebook, Twitter

• No texting……… 

Th t t l t ifi d• The country was not electrified

• The first airplane flight was 3 years away

• The average life span was 46.3 (males), 48.3 (females) ‐‐mostly due to unclean water and poor sanitation.

The progress is nothing short of STUNNING!!

Looking Forward

• A question:

h h l i h h lAre there new technologies that can help us meet  humanity’s major problems? y j p

YES 

Technology MixLow cost, high efficiency PV’s **

BatteriesBio‐fuels—3rd gen, algae, heliocultureStealth turbine for wind power 

• Next industrial revolution• New phenomena, materials• Environmental issues

Smarter gridTraveling wave nuclear reactorHydrogen economyClean coal technologies 

Nano

Advanced EnergyT h l i

• High performance computing • Computer design tools for 

• Cellular & molecular biology

Technologies

Co pute des g too s obuildings –complex system

biology

HPC

**Game‐changer TechnologiesStrategic Foresight: Navigating UncertaintyDr. Alexander Van de Putte; IE Business SchoolMadrid, March 2010

However

Another question:

Has the technology story been anHas the technology  story been an unqualified  success? 

Perhaps the correct answer is “ qualified yes”.

Qualified success

Gallop survey

“Using a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being ‘extremely displeased’ to 10 being ‘extremely pleased,’

if your son or daughter or other family member said y g yhe/she wanted to be an engineer/scientist,

how pleased would you be?”p y

9However, There is a perception that technology is “out of control” and p p gythat, too often, societies don’t have the ability to orchestrate a responsible development of powerful technologies that have the potential for huge economic developmentpotential for huge economic development.Swierstra, T. and Rip, A., “Nano‐ethics as NEST‐ethics: patterns of moral argumentation about new and emerging science and technology”, 

Nanoethics (2007) 1:3–20; Published online: 5; April 2007, Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2007.

• This skepticism arises from a series of errors and resulting disasters DDTDDT Genetically modified crops Chernobyl

The confidence of people in the power of technologies to solveThe confidence of people in the power of technologies to solve problems and improve their quality of life has been undermined.

• On top of all this, public is not technically well-informed (NAE, NRC survey)

S tibl t i i f ti Susceptible to misinformation A fear of the unknown

Rose, L., and W. E. Dugger, Jr. 2002. ITEA/Gallup Poll Reveals What Americans Think About Technology. Reston, VA: International Technology Education Association.

Emerging technologiesWarning bellsWarning bells

Humans are hunted by Nano-swarm

Emerging technologiesWarning bells

“Discovering the secrets of the Universe is one thing; ensuring that those secrets are used wisely and appropriately is quite another”

Warning bells

those secrets are used wisely and appropriately is quite another.” 

“What exactly are the risks attached to each of the techniques under discussion, who will bear them, and who will be liable if and 

BBC News, July 11, 2004 Prince Charles on Nanotechnology

when real life fails to follow the rose‐tinted script?” 

“Grey Goo”

Emerging technologiesWarning bellsWarning bells

Our most powerful 21st‐century technologies ‐ robotics, geneticengineering, and nanotech ‐ are threatening to make humans anendangered species. ‐‐Bill Joy,Wired Apr 2000

“Failing to understand the consequences of our inventions while we arein the rapture of discovery and innovation seems to be a common faultp yof scientists and technologists; we have long been driven by theoverarching desire to know that is the nature of science’s quest, notstopping to notice that the progress to newer and more powerfultechnologies can take on a life of its own ”technologies can take on a life of its own.”

Another view

Among some enthusiasts, however, attempts to halt the development of these technologies, until all the unanswered questions about the socio-ethical impact g q pare unanswered, are considered unethical.

“Given nanotechnology’s extraordinary economic and social potential, it would be unethical,in my view to attempt to halt scientific and technological progress in nanotechnologyin my view, to attempt to halt scientific and technological progress in nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology offers the potential for improving people’s standard of living, healthcare, andnutrition; reducing or even eliminating pollution through clean production technologies; …….…….even extending the length and quality of life through the repair or replacement of failingorgans.

Given this fantastic potential, how can our attempt to harness nanotechnology’s power at theGiven this fantastic potential, how can our attempt to harness nanotechnology s power at theearliest opportunity—to alleviate many earthly ills– be anything other than ethical?’’

Philip J. Bond, US Under-Secretary of Commerce“R ibl t h l d l t” S i W k h D 2004 7“Responsible nanotechnology development”, Swiss Workshop Dec 2004, p.7

Introduction

Recap The problems facing humanity –Complex, multi‐dimensional, The problems facing humanity  Complex, multi dimensional, 

interconnected  and have a degree of uncertainty

A set of powerful technologies available

However, there are challenges—Technological & Societal 

Need a winning strategy

i i & I i (I & I) l i d h innovative & Integrative  (I & I)solutions and approaches 

O i l d d I & I li ll Our survival depends on I & I —literally.

Winning Strategy Innovation

Human Spark

• Neanderthals and modern humans evolved from the same ancestors.

•Neanderthals left Africa and spread to Europe where they lived for about 200 000 b f th b ti t200, 000 years before they became extinct.

• Those left behind successfully evolved to modern humans and occupied theplanet.p

The difference: InnovationThe difference: Innovation

On Innovation 

• Sources Inventor(s) –driven

End- User –Driven Need-based Increasingly assuming more importance Increasingly assuming more importance

• Linear vs game-changer Linear– cost reduction, incremental

Game changer– paradigm shift, perhaps A Black SwanGame changer paradigm shift, perhaps A Black Swan

Black Swan

A Black Swan is an event that has three characteristics;characteristics; it is an outlier it carries an extreme impact it h t ti di t bilit it has retrospective predictability.

"The Black Swan",Nassim Nicholas TalebNassim Nicholas Taleb

On Innovation (cont’d)

• Recent research suggests that the most successfulRecent research suggests that the most successful innovation occurs at the boundaries/interfaces

“Buds of creativity bloom at the intersections”mahajanmahajan

Wh ?Why?

My experience

• AT&T Bell Labs: 1976‐1991 Interdisciplinary research the norm C d ti ld i Condensation soldering 

IDR Team: Chemists, engineers, material scientists

My experience

• CU‐Boulder: 1991‐2006 2 IDR Centers CAMP d CAMPmode

o NSF I/UCRCo Engineers, scientists (physics, chemistry)o Highly successfulo Many patents, 2 companies spun off.

MEDICAo Engineers and doctors 

Very creative solutionso Very creative solutionso A company spun off

My experience

• Virginia Tech: 2006‐present  ICTAS

o A major IDR instituteo A major IDR instituteo Innovation is its creedo Black Swan Seminar Series

No power point presentations No power point presentations Café X Philosophers, engineers, scientists,  Open to public but no systematic effort to reach out p p y Cygnets

o Large impact researcho Highly successful

E di d A d

60000000

80000000

100000000

120000000

Expenditures and Awards

Expenditures

0

20000000

40000000

FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010

Awards

Societal considerations

Recap again We need a healthy dose of innovation to solve humanity’s

major problemsmajor problems.

IDR an engine for innovation

Linear/incremental

Disruptive/game changer/black swan

Societal considerations

So far, I have talked about centers and my efforts on integrating engineering and the sciences physical and lifeengineering and the sciences--physical and life.

How about integrating societal considerations? Many questions

The imperative of integrating ethical and societal impactin NSF Funding Proposals

Panel SessionIMECE November 16, 2010

Societal considerations

Q1 Why are ethical dimensions, especially societal impact, important for technological discoveries?

Q2 Wh t th f i l di thi d i t l i tQ2. What are the consequences of including ethics and societal impact vs. excluding them from any research endeavor?

Q3 Why is public perception important to scientific research?Q3. Why is public perception important to scientific research?

Q4. How does this inclusion of ethics and societal impact reflect on educational practices?practices?

Q5. When is the appropriate time to integrate societal impact and ethics in research and technology innovation?gy

Q6. How do researchers go about integrating ethics and societal impact?

Societal considerations

Fi b k d i f iFirst, some background information

Engineers and Humanists: stereotype perceptionsEngineers and Humanists: stereotype perceptions 

“ …engineering discourse to be the product of Gradgrinds, constituted solely of facts andconstituted solely of facts and devoid of imagination and creativity.”   

‐ humanists (not all)

“… humanistic discourse to be a form of endless babble thata form of endless babble that never answers the questions it poses..”   

‐ engineers (some)

• Traditional engineering 

These perceptions don’t hold water on examination.

Creation and innovation  Engineers harness the laws of nature to do something useful for society(different mission than of basic science)

• Humanistic tradition Deep reflection, ethical management of knowledge, interpretation, and judgment for enrichment of human lifefor enrichment of human life

A Common Objective: j Contribute to the development and progress of the human being

Different forms of human intelligence but complimentary

Societal C id i

Q5. When is the appropriate time to integrate societal impact and ethics in research and technology innovation?

Considerations

ethics in research and technology innovation?

• From  post‐conception (or in some cases from conception itself )  through development to implementationdevelopment  to implementation

• Seamless integration; many benefits  Acceptance vs Resistance p Sustainable vs possibly limited life Avoid “valley of death”  Generally higher degree of innovation with inclusion 

Multiple public perspectives can provide “out‐of‐the box “ questions‐‐critical to innovation

Non‐linear / game changer vs linear/ incremental innovation ll h l k fé Recall The Black Swan Seminar in Café X

Societal considerations

Q6. How do researchers go about integrating ethics and societal impact?

• To Lab Directors : Embed a “humanist” in your lab. Have a humanist as a member of your research team right from early stages; 

co‐P.I. on proposals—not downstream; not even mid‐stream but all along . Will insure seamless integration  Very rewarding 

• My personal experience Erik Fisher, the embedded humanist  in my NT and Thermal Engineering Lab Enriching experience for my students including Erik and me Enriching experience for my students including Erik, and me

Led to the concept of Humanistic Engineering

Union of these two disciplines, two culturesA f l f i– A powerful  way to transform society.

A Humanistic Engineer

“ A 21st century engineer who is able to adopt multiple perspectives and A 21 century engineer who is able to adopt multiple perspectives and perform their own socio‐humanistic critiques in the absence of qualified humanistic interlocutors” 

‐‐ Fisher and Mahajan*    

•  Technically competent and socially integrative 

•  Innovative and producer and yet reflective, p y ,deliberate and in tune with the social ethical aspects of his/her product

*International Conference on Engineering Education, Valencia, Spain, July 2003

Societal considerations

My personal experience (cont’d)

• M interest in HE or Technolog & Societ e panded• My interest in HE or Technology & Society expanded beyond  research to Curriculum Initiatives:

CU‐Boulder: NSF Grant—Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE)   ME UG curriculum modified to include societal and ethical 

considerations‐ addition of modulesconsiderations addition of modules

VT: NUE Grant: A spiral Curriculum Approacho Ishwar Puri, ESM, P.I.o Vinod Lohani, Engineering Educationo J. Pitt, Philosophy/ethicso Richard Wokutch, Businesso Steve Culver, Academic Assessment Programo Roop L. Mahajan, ICTAS, ME, ESM 

Societal considerations

Societal considerations

• My interest in HE or Technology & Society expanded beyond  research to Curriculum Initiatives (cont’d):

CU‐Boulder: NSF Grant—Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE)   ME UG curriculum modified to include societal and ethical 

id ti dditi f d lconsiderations‐ addition of modules

VT: NUE Grant: A spiral Curriculum Approach

Expansion to graduate curriculum

Graduate Interdisciplinary Liberal Engineering Ethics Curriculum (GILEE)G aduate te d sc p a y be a g ee g t cs Cu cu u (G )

Curriculum Initiative

NSF/EESE Grant (#0832852): 2008‐2011• The GILEE curriculum addresses how issues of engineering ethics and g g

cultural identities are intertwined within a globalized workplace , and eliminates an important disconnect between contemporary ethical issues in technology and engineering practice.

Ethics Day (Panel discussions; 2009 and 2010) Ethics Summer Workshop (June 2009) Developed and taught a graduate class on ethics – spring 2010 Developed and taught a graduate class on ethics spring 2010

Co-taught by professors Puri, Lohani, Pitt, Wokutch, Culver & Mahajan

Comprehensive survey of both graduate and undergraduate p y g gstudents to get their perspectives on ethics education

Offered again in Spring 2011Offered again in Spring 2011.

Concluding Remarks

Ch ll i d l bl f i h it

Seamless Integration of Technology & Society for a Sustainable Future

• Challenging and complex problems facing humanity

• A  sustainable future requires solving these problems

• Remarkable developments in human technological ability

• The large scale application of technical solutions all too often brings unintended consequences of similar magnitude and consequence to the solutions

• Engineers and scientists therefore can no longer be content to  function within the comfortable limits of analytical tools and initially defined objectives and specifications

• Must include socio‐humanistic considerations

Concluding Remarks

• The responsibility cannot be shifted exclusively onto policy makers, lawyers, social scientists, professional ethicists and the like

• Add the rushed tempo of technological development‐Schumpeterian pace

• Need to build reflection in the design process‐What are the long‐term impacts of following short‐term marketing trends? 

‐What is the value of this product?

• Parameters may be indeterminate and answers uncertain:  Need a humanistic perspective  N d I i l Need Integration—seamless Barriers  exist but we must overcome these Need to start

TODAY, NOWTo build a bridge to the sustainable future  

STIR Workshop 4February 16, 2011 

Seamless Integration of Technology & SocietyTechnology & Societyfor a Sustainable Future

THANK YOU !!THANK YOU !!

Mahajan

Chair Professor , ICTASe for Critical Technology and Applied Science nr@vt.edu