Recently, the X Prize Foundation awarded a total of $10 million to three companies at the forefront of building the world’s most efficient cars. It was the culmination of a competition that began in 2008 with 111 teams and was pared down to nine finalists. The competition was rigorous: it demanded teams to engineer and … Continue reading “The Grand Challenge of Innovation”
Author: Yannis Yortsos
Yannis C. Yortsos is dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California. He is the Chester F. Dolley Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, and holds the Zohrab A. Kaprielian Dean's Chair in Engineering. Yortsos received his B.S. from the National Technical University, Athens, Greece, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology, all in chemical engineering. Along with his partners at Duke University and Olin College, he helped promote the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges of Engineering by co-hosting the first NAE Grand Challenges Summit at Duke University in Spring 2009 and its follow-up at USC in Fall 2010. The first summit spawned the Grand Challenges Scholars Program for undergraduate engineering schools across the nation. Yortsos is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.