Seeds of Change
The world has struggled to feed its burgeoning population—slated to top 11 billion by 2100, according to some predictions—since prehistoric times. While modern advances in farming and animal husbandry have boosted production dramatically, the reliance on nitrogen-based fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation has cascading effects on human health and the environment. Among them: greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and aquatic dead zones. The need for “clever methods” to maintain the world’s food supply without excessive harm to the environment earned “manage the nitrogen cycle” a spot on the National Academy of Engineering’s list of 14 “grand challenges” for the 21st century.
In this month’s cover story, Prism chief correspondent Tom Grose explores one potential solution: precision agriculture. He first wrote about this emerging field—which incorporates technology to help farmers optimize seed planting while minimizing the use of chemicals, fertilizer, and water—back in 2015. Since then, the practices (also deemed “ag tech”), have continued to develop, while drought, wildfires, and other climate-change manifestations have ramped up demand for agricultural innovation. Grose provides an in-depth look at the growing role of artificial intelligence in farming. The technologies raise their own set of concerns, however, particularly around the use and ownership of data. As Prism was going to press, an analysis published in Nature Machine Intelligence (https://bit.ly/3474joq) underscored the “huge promise” of AI in agriculture but also noted possible risks, including disruption from cyberattacks and increasing inequities between large and small growers.
In Prism’s second feature, science writer Deborah Lee Rose provides an intriguing look at luge engineering and how engineers are working to enhance aerodynamics for competitions such as the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The work holds implications for other types of design, such as the shape of automobiles, and provides lessons learned on environmental impacts.
Finally, don’t miss our Minneapolis travel feature describing the history, culture, activities, and cuisine you can experience while attending ASEE’s Annual Conference June 26–29—which we are excited to once again hold in person. (Fair warning: the food descriptions may cause hunger pangs!) The conference-at-glance schedule provides an overview of events. We hope to see you there!
Also included in this issue is ASEE’s 2020–2021 annual report. Despite the ongoing pandemic and other challenges, the Society realized some key successes—for example, the creation and ongoing work of two new task forces; broadened offerings of courses, workshops, and webinars; and both continuing and launching important initiatives to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering education.
Eva Miller
e.miller@asee.org