Team Landrioids’ 2008-09 FIRST LEGO League Climate Connections research project, “Beach Erosion” was nominated for the 2010 Grand Challenge for Engineering Award.

The Grand Challenge stories nomination is opened to all students from middle school to post graduate studies, institutions or organizations, who have made a contribution to, or a part of, one of the 14 National Academy of Engineers (NAE) specific challenges in the broad area of Sustainability, Health, Vulnerability and Joy of Living.  The nominations were shared through a video, text, or multimedia to describe the project and its (potential) impact, demonstrating how the work addresses a Grand Challenge problem or area. A total of 93 stories were nominated as of the March 1, 2010 deadline this year.  Five winning stories will be shared at the Boston Grand Challenge Summit on April 21, 2010.

Planet Earth is faced with a set of Grand Challenges whose solutions are critical to humanity over the next decades.  To be responsible stewards of the planet and to ensure human progress, we must find sustainable solutions for alternative energy, safeguarding our environment, improving healthcare, advancing knowledge, and creating the technologies that enhance the way we live. It is increasingly clear that no one discipline, technology, or individual can solve these problems alone.  Addressing such complex issues will necessarily require innovative thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration/cooperation from engineers of all kinds as well as policy makers, economists, a broad range of scientists and — importantly — the public.  Today’s students will be tomorrow’s leaders as we face these challenges.