The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Agenda Council (GAC) on Emerging Technologies, with Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering as its chair, announced the top ten emerging technologies of 2012 at the Summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Experts with various backgrounds in the government and in fields such as science and its industries selected the ten technologies, which are expected to have major social, economic and environmental impact worldwide this year. The technologies are listed according to their potentials to solve global challenges: informatics, synthetic biology and metabolic engineering, Green Revolution 2.0, nanoscale design of materials; systems biology and computational modeling/simulation of chemical and biological systems; utilization of carbon dioxide as a resource; wireless power, high energy density power systems; personalized medicine, nutrition and disease prevention; and enhanced education technology.
Among these technologies, informatics, synthetic biology and metabolic engineering, utilization of carbon dioxide as a resource, and wireless power are notable since they are closely related to our daily lives.
Informatics addresses the increasing need for organized, valuable information. A huge quantity of information is available to individuals and groups these days. Yet, it often creates more noise than value, limiting its effective use. Innovations in organizing, mining and processing information will provide a solution to filtering out the noise and using the growing wealth of global information, thereby addressing emerging challenges.
Rapid advances in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering have enabled the development of new biological processes and organisms that are designed to serve specific purposes, such as converting biomass to chemicals, fuels and materials, producing new therapeutic drugs and protecting the body against harm.
Carbon dioxide emission is one of the greatest social, political and economic challenges of our time. A new approach to solving this problem involves transforming carbon dioxide into a resource instead of a liability. Novel catalysts, based on nanostructured materials, are expected to transform carbon dioxide to hydrocarbons and other carbon-containing molecules, which could be used as new building blocks for the chemical industry.
A significant limitation to the electrically powered devices’ development is the need for them to be attached to the electricity grid by wire, either permanently or through frequent battery recharging. Emerging approaches to wireless power transmission will free electrical devices from “plugging in” and will have a significant impact on personal electronics, just as Wi-Fi had on Internet use.
Professor Lee said, “New discoveries are being made every day with the accelerated development of science and technology. Many of the selected technologies are sustainable and crucial in building a resilient future.”