ABSTRACT
It is always very difficult to forecast the future. This chapter discusses eight current and future research-and-development areas as examples of where chemical and biomolecular engineers play an important role and will continue to do so in the years to come.
Conception, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of sustainable life-support systems for bases on the moon and on Mars.
Development of new processes for the economic recovery and recycling of elements in electronic waste.
Invention and mass-production of cutting-edge low-cost and durable solar cells.
Demonstration and commercialization of practical methods to capture and sequester greenhouse gases.
Development of new methods to extract and purify water from saline sources and wastewater streams.
Development of improved hemodialysis machines (“artificial kidneys”)
Demonstration and commercialization of molecular machines for biomedical applications.
Advancement of the biomolecular engineering of microorganisms that can efficiently synthesize the proteins in human blood serum.
Chemical and biomolecular principles will provide key job knowledge in each of these critical and forward-thinking development areas. Chemical and biomolecular engineers are uniquely positioned to not only “dream big” about many of these futuristic ideas, but to then apply their expertise and engineering knowhow to make these dreams come true.
