Grand Challenge Scholars Program

Interdisciplinary | Multicultural | Entrepreneurship & Innovation | Service Leadership | Research, Design, and Creating

The Grand Challenge Scholars Program (GCSP), sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering, is designed to prepare the next generation of leaders to address some of the most pressing problems facing humanity. These are captured in the 14 Engineering Grand Challenges—ambitious goals that span sustainability, health, security, and the joy of living. Each challenge is inherently interdisciplinary and global in nature, requiring not just technical expertise, but collaboration across cultures, fields, and perspectives.

These challenges are not abstract—they shape the world in which we live. From securing clean water to engineering better medicines, the Grand Challenges invite us to imagine a better future and then build it.

This portfolio presents my journey through the GCSP pillars—research, interdisciplinary learning, entrepreneurship, global awareness, and service—through a series of vignettes. Each section represents a “world” I stepped into, shaped by real experiences and lessons that have expanded how I think about engineering and its role in society.

Interdisciplinary Pillar: Grandey Leadership By Design

Image a world divided by thick Sharpie marks: there is no collaboration between different field of study, or working together to solve a problem. This polar divide is what our world could look like with out the appreciation and respect of different fields, and it would make working on Grand Challenges almost impossible. Grand Challenges lie in the ‘white space’ between disciplines, they are problems that affect a wide verity of people and threaten our health, safety, and well being. They can not be solved by just one group. Take access to clean water, for example. This issue cannot be solved just by chemists purifying water, they must work with builders and infrastructure developers, policy makers and governments, geologists, and this is just the beginning of the list. 

I have grown up to value different approaches and ideas, however Grandy Leadership by Design was my formal introduction to a interdisciplinary process for Grand Challenges. Leadership by Design (LbD) is a first year honors experience I was granted the opportunity to participate in. LbD focuses on teaching a interdisciplinary approach to solving problems with hands on projects and in-depth exploration of surrounding system. Many of the assignments are open, allowing the students to think outside the box, and sometimes classroom, and channel many faucets of their imagination. 

One project that I really connected with was our first semester final group project. The assignment was to find a way to create empathy, find a way to make people understand the struggles and urgency Grand Challenges present. The Challenge my team chose to focus on was clean water accessibility. With the help of our ‘trail guides’ we decided to narrow the huge problem of clean water for all to the Sub-Sahara region and India, two places that are greatly affected by the lack of water and the contamination of the water that is available. To create empathy we focused on the visual connection people have to others. In order to show our audience the difficulty that people face from lack of clean water we created a three part exhibit. To start, the viewer walks through a photo tunnel. The tunnel is covered by fabrics from Uganda and strings of photos and statistics from our focus areas line the sides. The second part of the exhibit was a video game where the player must maneuver to the water before the clock counts down. This showed the player the extreme difficulty of finding enough water to stay alive in these regions. The final part of our exhibit was a bucket full of the approximate weight of water that water gatherers in our focus areas carry. 

The project itself was an important learning experience for me, truly seeing the extent of the Grand Challenge, how many people it affects every day and how extreme the consequences are. However, the most important thing I realized while working on this project is the diversity needed when tacking Grand Challenges. Even on my small scale team there was a wide verity of prior knowledge and background we each brought. Two of my teammates are Computer Science majors, two others mechanical engineering majors, one civil engineer major, and myself, a design engineering major. Our different though processes and approach allowed us to come at the Challenge in different directions and use our expertise to help each other to find the best solution. 

Magnified glasses are amazing tools when you are working on a specialized individual problem, but when trying to solve Grand Challenges zooming in so close make the bigger picture blurry. Taking a step back and looking at the Challenge through many different lenses allows you to see how multidisciplinary teams can work together and find a solution that addresses the complexities of the problem in all its forms.

Grandy TAs tabling at an event for accepted students

Service Leadership Pillar: Leadership By Design Climber Assistant

This world is defined by individualism. Every person must walk their own path— alone. Life is a series of solitary journeys, and each route is different. No one can share directions, offer advice, or pass down wisdom. There is no mentorship, no collaboration, and no learning from others who have walked before you. Every decision made is based solely on your own experiences and thoughts, without input from others. Each person moves forward in isolation, fumbling through uncertainty and learning only by trial and error. Mistakes are repeated generation after generation because no one is allowed to share what they have learned.

In this world there is no concept of community, only individual success or failure. Collaborations is seen as weakness. Seeking help is frowned upon. Everyone is focused on getting ahead, faster and further than those around them, regardless of who is left behind. Even those who reach the end of their paths can only look back silently, watching other struggle with the same obstacles they once faced.

This lonely and solitary world is what we could live in if we do not recognize and value connection and what we can learn from others.

My second year at Mines I accepted a position as a teaching assistant (TA) for Grandey Leadership by Design (LbD), the same first-year honors program I had completed the year before. As a TA I have come to see how much value there is learning and walking alongside others. I have learned and gained a greater appreciation for the fact that leadership is not about knowing everything. It is about listening, guiding, and creating space for others to grow. It's about service rooted in empathy.

In LbD, my role as a TA was not to have and give the students all the answers. Instead, I supported them in navigating their own paths to find the answers that resonated with them. I was there to offer them the tools and encouragement to explore, reflect, and build their own ideas and perspectives. In LbD we wanted to prepare the students to think outside the box of traditional engineering and embrace the difficulty of working on people-centered problems. Through the process of learning to be a TA, I had to learn how to communicate clearly with people who thought differently than I did. Throughout my three years as a TA, I have interacted with students from different backgrounds, different childhoods that molded their perceptions, different value systems, different life experiences, and so much more. I had to learn how to connect and communicate with each of these different people to help them grow and thrive.

I have become much better at asking questions instead of giving instructions. I learned to allow the students to come to their own conclusions, since the process of working through a problem and finding a solution that makes sense to you is much more powerful than someone handing you a solution that you do not understand. I have come to appreciate that teaching is not lecturing and presenting material on a projector but facilitating discovery. In this way I have found that teaching is far closer to my background as a canopy tour guide, where I lead guests through the course, allowing them to struggle and find their own solutions, than I originally imagined.

The most important take-away that I have gained from this experience is how to connect with people where they are. I would talk to students who are confident and understand exactly what they want to accomplish with a project, then turn around and speak with someone who is overwhelmed and has no idea where to start. Then I would find a student who is disengaged and doesn’t understand why the work matters. I learned how to tailor my response and support to each student and meet them where they are. This way I was able to help the student with what they actually needed and not what I thought they needed. While this is a skill I am continually working to improve, my time as a TA has shown me the value and necessity of these connections. Being able to meet each person I interact with with empathy, patience, and the support they need is what service leadership looks like.

We do not solve Grand Challenges alone. We solve them together, through communities of learning, understanding, and trust. Being a TA for Grandey Leadership by Design has helped me develop not only the practical communication and leadership skills I will carry to any team and for the rest of my life, but also a deeper social consciousness. Every person comes with their own story and strengths. It is essential to meet them them where they are, walking alongside them when they need it, and knowing that sometimes, just showing up for someone else can be a powerful act of service.

Group photo of Grandey TAs

Multicultural Pillar: Community Development Focus Area

In this world there is only one culture, one language, one set of customs, and one way of doing things. The rules are uniform, created to eliminate misunderstandings. There are no local traditions, no regional foods or dialects, no gestures that mean something different in different areas. This world is designed for simplicity, efficiency, and sameness. This might seem easier at first glance, there is no need for translation, adaptation, or cultural navigation. But beneath the surface something essential is missing: perspectives. In this world innovation is shallow, solutions are one-size-fits-all, and community engagement is transactional. No one asks what matters here because everywhere is assumed to be the same.

This is a world stripped of complexity and individual identity. It lacks empathy, identity, and connection. Solutions become cookie-cutter and communities are treated as checkboxes rather than collaborators. Without cultural diversity, empathy, and understanding our ability to solve global problems becomes not only limited, but dangerously narrow.

My time as the fundraising chair for Mines Without Borders (MWB), the collegiate chapter of Engineers Without Borders, and my Community Development focus area classes have given me a deeper understanding of what it means to work cross-culturally. I have learned that it takes extreme empathy, respect, a humble attitude, and continued intentionality to engage with other cultures and people in a manner that allows for true collaboration and designing solutions that will work for them.

In MWB we partnered with several communities to improve their access to clean water and provide sustainable solar lighting. While I wasn’t on the ground for the fieldwork, my role was essential to the success of the projects. As the fundraising chair, I helped organize events, coordinate outreach, and secure the resources needed to bring these solutions to life. I learned the importance of looking at the bigger picture and ensuring that we worked with the community to develop solutions that would work for them. I also learned that the success of humanitarian engineering projects relies on teamwork, communication, and trust, both within the MWB/engineering teams and the community the project serves.

One of my Community Development classes also stands out to me with respect to projects taking place in cultures different than my own: Engineering for Sustainable Community Development. This class is designed to prioritize learning the history and pillars of sustainable community development and hands-on experience of working with a community partner in Colombia to Co-design solutions for recycling issues they were facing. I was on a team focusing on textile recycling. Our team partnered with ASEMAR, a recycling company in Medellín that collects, sorts, and sells all types of solid waste recycling including textiles. ASEMAR sells the 100% cotton fabric to a manufacturer, however only 5% of the textiles they collect are pure cotton. Our challenge was to find a way to use the 95% of textiles that were not pure cotton. This project posed many difficulties for the team. We had to design within the constrains of the cultural context. This meant only using materials that were available in Medellín, constantly consulting our community partner to understand their daily lives and if our solution would work for them, and ensuring that all stakeholder voices were heard, especially the marginalized groups we were hoping to help.

These experiences reshaped how I view engineering and user-centered design. As engineers we a quick to jump to technical solutions, even when those technologies do not make sense in context. The solutions are not just about numbers and specifications. They are about people. It is more important than ever to consider the cultures and realities that people live in. As environmental threats grow, we need to start valuing and prioritizing the traditional lifestyles that work in harmony with the ecosystems instead of trying to ‘modernize’ and develop communities to mirror the western world, regardless of whether those values fit into the culture and values. Working with these communities has reinforced and solidified that cultural competency is not a side skill, it’s a core competency that is essential to ethical and effective engineering.

We don’t solve Grand Challenges by bringing answers and technical solutions that do not consider the context of the area. We solve them by listening, learning, and co-creating with the people who understand the problem best. The people that live it.

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Pillar: Innov8x Flash Challenges

In this world everything that is done has been done before. There are no new ideas. Everything that can be built has already been built, every problem already solved. Creativity is considered inefficient, risks are frowned upon, and change is discouraged. People live and work by rigid, set templates handed down through generations. Businesses, science, and technology all operate like clockwork. Predictable and unchanged.

In this world innovation is not celebrated. It is suppressed. No one takes the time to ask, “what if?” No one explores ideas for the thrill and challenge driven forward by the question “why not?” There is comfort in the familiar. But there is not excitement. There is no growth. Problems that plague society are left untouched because no one dares to try something different, something new.

In my time at Mines as a design engineer, I have experienced the opposite. I have been encouraged to think outside the box and come up with creative solutions. One experience that stands out to me is when I participated in the innov8x three-part flash challenges. During the challenges an entrepreneurship spirit where speed, creativity, and bold thinking were not just encouraged but required. Over the course of the the three challenges I had to confront real-world problems with limited time, limited information, and unlimited possibilities.

The flash challenges took place shortly after the Marshall Fire in Boulder, CO. As a response to the damage caused by the fire the challenge posed to teams was to come up with a modular wall designed to quickly build shelter for those displaced by the fire. On teams of three to four, we would have three meetings: the first to conduct background research and define the problem, the second to come up with a design and create a low-fidelity prototype, and the third to present our solutions to the entire group.

My team came up with an idea for a large brick made from recycled materials. These lego-style bricks could be transported easily by truck or rail and used to customize the construction of long-term temporary shelters. By using two side-by-side sets of bricks, builders could make an inner and outer wall with a gap in between to run electrical wires and plumbing. Once the wires and pipes were placed the gap would be filled with insulation to help regulate the temperature of the house. After our research, ideation, and prototyping we presented out solution to the group.

Through this process I learned that entrepreneurship is not just about starting companies. It is about adopting a mindset and identifying needs that others overlook, testing ideas quickly, failing fast, and adapting even faster. These challenges forced me out of my comfort zone and into that messy, unpredictable space where new ideas are born.

What stood out to me the most was how interdisciplinary this kind of thinking had to be. To generate innovative solutions, we had to draw from engineering principles, business strategy, user empathy, and story telling. We were not just building things, we were solving real-world problems, and that required thinking across domains.

Through these challenges, I gained a deeper appreciation for the entrepreneurial process as a vital part of addressing Gand Challenges. After all, bold new solutions don’t come from doing what’s already been done. They come from those willing to ask, “what’s next?”

Research, Design, and Create Pillar: Product Redesign

In this world ideas are born fully formed. The first draft is always the final. There is no prototyping, no testing, no feedback and iteration. Products move from concept to completion in a single step. New ideas are never improved on, they simply are. Design in this world is shallow. It doesn’t evolve or respond to users, cultures, time, or changes. There is no user testing because the product is already in its manufacturing stage. Innovation slows and stops since there is no process, only results. While many things are made, and made quickly, they rarely work for anyone. This world has no iteration, and thus no improvement or empathy.

Realistically, thoughtful design takes time. It requires research and creativity, as well as iteration, failure, and user feedback. I experienced this cycle over and over while working on redesigning the party game Wavelength to make is accessible for players who are blind or visually impaired.

The original game is designed to be visual. It relies on bright colors, printed cards, and pointer positioning that that the player has to see to understand. These elements of the game are ‘hidden information’ and inaccessible to people who cannot see them. My team partnered with the Colorado Center for the Blind to redesign the game experience while maintaining the gameplay and making it truly inclusive. Throughout this project I led the stakeholder engagement. I organized and facilitated the team’s weekly meeting with users from the Center. Through those conversations and interactions, I learned how they navigate games, what challenges they regularly face, and what design choices could help, or hinder, their experince. It was an ongoing process of learning and unlearning, especially as we worked to distinguish between individual preferences and universally helpful accessibility features.

The most difficult part of the project was communicating design ideas with the users. Since we could not communicate with sketches and drawings we had to physically prototype and model our ideas to receive real feedback from the users. We prototyped over twenty versions of game elements to gain insight on the users’ experience.

This project was a deep dive into applied research. We collected user feedback through every step of the process, translated it into design requirements, prototyped solutions, and revised them again and again. Throughout the project, I also helped the team craft reports and presentations that documented or rational and data-driven decisions, tracked progress, and communicated our decisions.

The final result was a redesigned version of Wavelength with the same core gameplay, now playable with mixed groups of sighted and non-sighted independent players. Our modifications included a digital range of cards with both audio and visual output, a larger, ergonomic game with tactile point markings, a score wedge with raised dots for point tracking, a pointer with a finger groove for easier selection, and magnetic locking features to prevent accidental movement of pieces.

What a valued most about this project wasn’t just the technical challenge, it was the human-centered focus. We did not guess at what our users needed; we asked them. It took multiple iterations and incorporation of feedback. Through research, testing, and iteration we made a product that worked for our users and considered how they move through the world. This project remains my favorite of those I have worked on so far. Our continued interactions with the users made Wavelength feel like a real, meaningful contribution that would improve people’s lives. In the real world, it the process, convoluted, real feedback, and perseverance, that makes a good idea into something meaningful.

Conclusion

If each pillar of the Grand Challenge Scholars Program were a world of its own, then my journey through this program has been one of exploration, stepping into unfamiliar places, meeting new ways of thinking, and learning how to ask better questions. As I reflect on these five worlds, I see not just what I’ve experienced, but how each experience has layered upon the others to fundamentally change how I think, lead, and design.

This program has shaped me into more than a student. It’s shaped me into a citizen, a professional, and a person who recognized that solving the world’s most urgent problems doesn’t start with answers, but with people. Each pillar pushed me to grow in a different direction. Research taught me to listen closely and iterate humbly. Interdisciplinary work showed me that complex problems don’t fit into neat categories. Service and leadership reminded me that impact starts with empathy. Entrepreneurship taught me to chase bold ideas and learn through doing. And multicultural competency ground it all in context, reminding me that design without understanding is just guesswork.

The Grand Challenges are not just engineering problems. They are human problems, woven into the fabric of society, environment, history, and identity. This program taught me to recognize that complexity and to embrace it, not with fear and confusion, but with curiosity. I have learned to sit in ambiguity, to seek perspectives outside my own, and to collaborate across disciplines, cultures, and lived experiences.

I leave this program with a deep sense of responsibility. Not just to innovate, but to ensure that the things I create are inclusive, sustainable, and rooted in the communities they aim to serve. I see engineering not just as a skill set, but as a practice of care, imagination, and courage. The Grand Challenge Scholars Program didn’t give me a map to follow, it gave me the tools to build my own, and the conviction to invite others along the way.