Guru Madhavan is the Norman R. Augustine Senior Scholar and senior director of programs at the National Academy of Engineering. His new book is Wicked Problems: How to Engineer a Better World (W.W.

Modeling how cars deform in a crash, how spacecraft respond to extreme environments, or how bridges resist stress could be ...

Gone are the days of just blueprints, prototypes and calculations, as engineering now revolves around efficiency, speed and precision in a world where technology is rapidly changing. The world of ...