Conference theme: Engineering Connections

With the world population growing and gaining a better life expectancy, our need for energy, food and education will increase considerably over the next decades. Independently, no one can meet these challenges and thus we should cooperate to succeed. Connecting key industries is crucial if we want to continue to increase the current level of wealth of us and of others.

		Connecting people and promoting interaction to learn and develop are the keystones in our knowledge driven economy. How can technologies like social media and mobile devices support organizations now and in the future?		Organizations like universities and companies are enabled to innovate through sharing of knowledge. Internet is without a doubt the major tool for connecting knowledge. Will it continue to evolve or do we discover something better?
		Our modern way of life is largely enabled through the increasing use of energy. The evolving energy market is all about connections. Will smart grids form the next generation? How will the new energy supply affect market prices?		Transport is crucial for a trading nation like Holland. Mainports like the port of Rotterdam and Amsterdam Airport are essential to connect global markets. What will be the future of these type of mainports and which technologies will enables this?