Convergence of emerging technologies to address the challenges of the 21st century

There are numerous "Grand Challenges" facing humanity that will have to be addressed by us as a global society in order to maintain our well-being from the standpoint of quality of life, healthcare, environment, energy needs, manufacturing efficiencies, etc., if we are to continue humanity\´s trajectory of progress. Traditional technologies based on classical disciplines and thought processes of the past several decades are no longer viable in addressing these challenges, and a new approach based on interdisciplinary thinking is necessary. Fortunately, numerous emerging technologies are advancing at an unimaginable rate and it is the convergence of these technologies that demonstrate the potential to have a major impact on our lives, businesses, government, society and our planet. These emerging technologies are establishing the basis for a new paradigm in the development and commercialization of next generation intelligent, miniaturized, highly robust complex systems. This lecture will address some of these major technologies and their applications including, intelligent sensors and wireless sensor networks, intelligent cars and smart highways, tele-health (wireless healthcare), micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), nanotechnology, clean technology, robotics and automation, smart grid, and ultra high throughput and wide bandwidth instrumentation.