CHARLES M. VEST
President
National Academy of Engineering
On behalf of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE), I want to thank the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) for hosting this joint workshop on the future of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).
This is one of several joint activities our two academies have undertaken. We are especially proud of our work together to establish the ongoing China–U.S. Frontiers of Engineering symposia to advance knowledge and personal relationships across engineering disciplines and between nations. We also look forward to our continuing work together on such important topics as renewable energy and synthetic biology.
In today’s world with its globalized economies and common challenges, great nations and organizations both compete with each other and cooperate with each other. Competition drives excellence, but increasingly cooperation is even more important, especially between organizations such as ours that are dedicated to advancing technology for the common good of humanity. We have one world, and only one set of global resources. It is important to work together on satellite navigation. Competing and cooperation is like Yin and Yang. They need to be balanced.
The NAE hopes that this workshop will stimulate greater cooperation between our two countries as we deploy and refine our GNSS systems and operations. Providing broader and more redundant coverage and operation would help GNSS provide better tools for science and technology, ranging from precise measurements of geological motions to more efficient agriculture that requires less water and minimizes fertilizer use. We also hope that we can stimulate cooperation in guarding against inappropriate interference of other signals with GNSS, and that
further scientific and engineering interactions between our respective experts will follow this workshop. Above all, we hope that we can work toward maximum benefits for human safety that GNSS can provide.
The NAE very much appreciates the CAE’s generous hosting of this workshop. Our delegation all looks forward to learning and working together with you.
