The Great Problems, Great Minds seminar series explores the major problems facing humanity as we move into the heart of the 21st century. At a technical school, we often forget that humans play a major role in shaping the implementation of every technical solution that is developed and applied. Major problems faced by society include climate change, food security, energy security, education, poverty, and disease, all of which have partial solutions that have been opposed by segments of society. As we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, a simple solution like a mask doesn’t work if people don’t accept it.
In this series, we’re bringing in some of the world’s Great Minds to speak on the Great Problems facing society. We will discuss potential solutions, and especially the interaction of people with potential technical solutions.
For more information, contact Assistant Professor of Social Sciences Hao Huang.
Fall 2023
Dates | Title | Speaker | Location |
---|---|---|---|
Sept 8 | The Driverless City Project | Ron Henderson | On-campus |
Sept 15 | Initiatives and Research Toward Sustainable Air Mobility | Yu Zhang | Online |
Sept 15 | Rural Road Stimulus and the Role of Matching Mandates on Economic Recovery in China | Anthony Howell, Arizona State University | Online |
Sept 22 | System Thinking When Modeling Complex Systems—Covariation Mining and System Dynamics Simulation | Danlin Yu, Montclair State University | Online |
Sept 29 | Assessing Older Adult Mobility Using Wearable Technology | Bruce Newbold, McMaster University | Online |
Oct 6 | Achilles’ Heel: Architecture Change and Competitive Disadvantage of Geographical Clustering | Pengfei Li, University of Calgary | Online |
Oct 13 | Humanistic GIS: Towards A Research Agenda | Bo Zhao, University of Washington | Online |
Oct 20 | Crafting Just, Equitable and Circular Food Systems | Weslynne Ashton, Illinois Tech | On-campus |
Oct 27 | Understanding Capitalist Globalization: A Spatio-temporal Perspective | Eric Sheppard, UCLA | Online |
Nov 3 | Workforce Gender Inequality—What Can We Learn from the Physician Workforce? | Xiaochu Hu, Association of American Medical Colleges | Online |
Nov 10 | Housing Production and the Structural Changes in China’s Real Estate Development Industry | Lan Deng, University of Michigan | Online |
Nov 17 | Coping with the Age of Paradox: Exploring the Role of a Quantum Perspective | Daniel Sui, Virginia Tech | Online |
Dec 1 | Uncertainty in Spatial Analysis: Visualization, Measurement, and Modeling | Yongwan Chun, UT Dallas | Online |