Engineering for Humanity
Above: Professor Paul Imbertson in his office. Photo by Rebecca Slater.
Three CSE faculty are changing the way we communicate and educate
December 6, 2019
Engineers are problem solvers. Increasingly, their specialties are tangled with the most pressing social challenges of our era—the rancorous tribalization of politics, social alienation, and clean energy production, just to name a few.
Engineering was founded to conquer problems created by nature, but increasingly it must solve problems created by humans—usually the byproducts of past engineering triumphs.
Three faculty from the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering—Lana Yarosh, Ellad Tadmor, and Paul Imbertson—are rising to meet these challenges in myriad ways. They are creating models to protect rational decision-making in public policy, designing social media to foster connection instead of alienation, promoting renewable energy, and forging ties with the developing world.
“Engineering is about humanity,” explained Professor Paul Imbertson of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
“Humanity is about all of us together,” Imbertson said.
Read about CSE assistant professor Lana Yarosh's research on social isolation in "Networking for Humans."
Read about CSE professor Ellad Tadmor's approach to public policy in "Defending Science."
Read about CSE teaching professor Paul Imbertson's path to cleaner energy in "A Powerful Journey."
Written by Kermit Pattison