WELCOME

Good afternoon! It is my great honor and privilege as the NAE Chair to welcome all of you to the 2020 National Academy of Engineering Annual Meeting. It is most unfortunate that we must conduct the meeting in a virtual form, but the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic must be accommodated. We will miss the informal dialogues with colleagues and a most meaningful induction ceremony for new members, but we will be able to benefit from an agenda well suited to our current situation. I trust that you will find that the leadership and staff of the NAE have developed a program that addresses many of the challenges posed by the pandemic to the engineering community. I for one am looking forward to hearing what our distinguished speakers have to say.

This is truly a challenging time in our nation’s history. Even before the emergence of the pandemic, we were participating in what is arguably the most ... More

WELCOME

[SLIDES 1/2] Welcome to the National Academy of Engineering 2020 annual meeting. As president of the NAE, it is my honor to address this very distinguished gathering and celebrate the induction of our new members, the class of 2020.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, our annual meeting this year is being held in virtual mode. So this is an experiment for us. I want to thank our staff for their hard work in adjusting to the current conditions to make this a memorable meeting.

I’ll begin with some background about the NAE and its sister academies.

President Abraham Lincoln signed a congressional charter that created the National Academy of Sciences in 1863 because he saw an urgent need for the government to have a source of independent scientific advice. The National Academy of ... More