Since 2003, Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) has co-hosted a national conference with one of its collegiate chapters. Hundreds of students, academics, and practitioners come together to share their dreams of building a more sustainable world. Participants are charged with broadening their perspectives - thinking outside of the box and outside of the classroom - to begin progressing towards innovative engineering solutions that address our grandest challenges.

This year's conference theme is "20/20 Vision: Focusing on Innovation in Sustainable Design". This theme and this conference offer a new outlook on the sustainability challenges that cross borders and span oceans. The Purdue Chapter of ESW hopes this conference will help bring these challenges into a better focus so that they are not seen as impossibly convoluted obstacles, but instead seen as prime opportunities for local, national, and global communities to join together and strive towards sustainable solutions. Engendering the enthusiasm and urgency necessary to even begin confronting the most pressing issues facing our planet is step one.

Step two is the exciting part, especially for us engineers. Now is the time to innovate. Recall the conference theme; our focus is on innovation in all its conceptions and manifestations. The 2010 ESW National Conference will feature professionals from academia, government, and industry speaking on subjects such as sustainable development, sustainability education, sustainability on campus and in the community, and sustainability in industry. Likewise, ESW chapters will also be given the opportunity to showcase their ideas and experiences with innovation in sustainable design during the project poster session. Representatives from our conference sponsors will be viewing the project posters and mingling with students as part of a reverse career fair.

It's a time for dreamers. It's a time for doers. It's a time for everyone. And it will take all of us collaborating and innovating to realize the truly sustainable world in which we all yearn to live.

Welcome to the 2010 ESW National Conference.