“Engineering research is both extremely powerful and often underappreciated. Existing science can be a conservative force that denies the possibility of new technologies if they are inconsistent with current scientific understanding. But counter-to-current-science new technologies thrive and serve notice that nature, richer than we can imagine, is a fertile source of both new technology and new science.
We must go beyond Bush and realize that engineering research grounds scientific research in the real world and in real problems; it is a key conduit through which nature surprises us and forces us to be creative; and it is a key cross-check on science.”