Synergistic solutions must be sought by both academic researchers and practising engineers in industry. There are many opportunities now in US universities to work in interdisciplinary engineering programs, that challenge students with real world projects. These programs bring together teams of students from various disciplines, including business, physics, chemistry, medicine, etc., to attack problems from all possible approaches. A second trend is the integration of information technology into the research and academic setting, as data creation and management is an important part of advanced engineering studies in every field. Graduate engineering education in the US offers excellent opportunities for interdisciplinary study and research in advanced engineering fields.
Materials engineering is an outstanding example.
Energy is another area that brings together engineers from all fields as they search for clean-burning fuel cell technologies, or explore the possibilities of economical wind and solar power. Engineers from US universities are working actively with aerospace agencies from other nations to prepare for the international space station. Like computer engineering, it plays a vital role in most research and industrial projects. Engineers in the 21st century are going to face increasing responsibilities outside traditional engineering disciplines, in areas such as public policy-making, legal reviews of technical issues, and copyright and patent issues arising from technology transfer. Engineers can bring their expertise to contribute to solving these problems as well.