International futurists, engineers, architects discuss 'Building the 22nd Century'

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering is gathering thought leaders -- including Ray Kurzweil, inventor and director of engineering with Google; Gen. Stanley McChrystal, former U.S. Forces Afghanistan commander; Henry Cisneros, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and local and national industry leaders -- to discuss "Building the 22nd Century."

This international conference, Oct. 14-16 at Omaha's CenturyLink Center, 455 N. 10th St., also features panels of architects, college deans and futurists to address the challenges ahead.

"Our college educates students whose work will shape the built environment for the 22nd century," said Tim Wei, dean of the College of Engineering. "It's important for all of us to understand the challenges and opportunities going forward.”

By the beginning of the 22nd century, the global population is expected to rise to 15-20 billion people and existing natural resources will be increasingly depleted, Wei added. The majority of the world's population will live in megacities and the conference will discuss what those cities will look like. Wei said questions we can ask now will help us prepare for a future with unimaginable discoveries and issues.

Conference highlights include the Oct. 14 keynote address -- "A Futurist's View Toward the 22nd Century Built Environment," by Kurzweil and the presentation, "Cities of Tomorrow," by Kent Larson, director of the Changing Places Group at the Massachussets Institute of Technology's Media Lab. Oct. 15 has discussions on engineering design, construction and building products, plus Cisneros' talk and focus sessions on transportation, infrastructure and energy with key industries; and a free presentation with McChrystal at the Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln.

Details on sessions and registration information are at http://buildingthe22ndcentury.unl.edu. K-12 youth may submit posters to be displayed at the conference depicting their vision of future cities, with cash prizes and scholarships for contest winners. See http://go.unl.edu/k12bt22c for entry instructions (deadline is Oct. 9).