This video introduces Northwestern Engineering’s Whole-Brain Engineering philosophy, bringing analytical rigor—logic, mathematics, and scientific reasoning—together with creativity, intuition, design, and imaginative problem-solving. Its message is simple: technical knowledge alone is not enough; complex problems require thinkers who can connect disciplines, approach ideas from multiple perspectives, and turn insight into action.
RESEARCH AND RECOGNITION
EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP
During his 18 years as dean of Northwestern Engineering, Professor Ottino made Whole-Brain Engineering a guiding philosophy for the school—strengthening technical education through design, entrepreneurship, leadership, art, and collaboration across disciplines.
ART AND IDEAS
Professor Ottino accepts the Bernard M. Gordon Prize for developing Whole-Brain Engineering at Northwestern. This prize is the highest U.S. honor for engineering education, with a total award of $500,000.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) makes our mission even more urgent. AI can accelerate research, synthesis, and expression, but it also makes standardized answers easier to produce and can tempt students to outsource the very thinking that education should develop. We do not want AI to replace critical thinking or whole-brain thinking. Instead, we want the younger generation to use AI as a tool that supports inquiry, expands creativity, and accelerates learning, while curiosity, judgment, and original reasoning remain their own. Used thoughtfully, AI and whole-brain thinking should strengthen one another: technology can amplify a student’s capacity, but the student must remain the thinker.
While many writing programs and competitions focus primarily on the humanities and social sciences, Whole Brain Scholars embraces a much broader range of disciplines—from the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics to economics, psychology, philosophy, history, and beyond. We believe that students in every field can benefit from developing critical thinking skills through writing. Learning to question assumptions, evaluate evidence, construct arguments, and communicate complex ideas with clarity benefits students throughout their academic journey, regardless of their academic interests.
We are committed to a transparent judging process, with expectations clearly communicated and evaluation criteria consistently applied. Participating in a writing competition requires a significant investment of time, thought, and intellectual effort. We want to assure our students that their work will receive a fair and thorough evaluation. By making assessment less of a “black box”, we aim to help students understand not only how their work is judged, but also what rigorous and thoughtful writing looks like.
We believe that high-quality writing and research resources should be accessible to all young people, regardless of their background or access to academic networks. We are committed to sharing free, high-quality writing resources as the program grows. Each year, we will also select one outstanding competition participant as our Annual Whole Brain Scholar and sponsor the awardee’s participation in a research project with a professor or scholar at one of the world’s leading universities. Through this initiative, we hope to open doors to opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach and give them the opportunity to experience research beyond the classroom.
Professor Julio M. Ottino is a renowned engineering scientist, educator, and artist. He has authored over 260 peer-reviewed journal articles and three books, with over 27,000 citations. His seminal book, The Kinematics of Mixing, alone has been cited more than 3,500 times. His contributions have earned him election to three of America’s most distinguished peer-elected academies: the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He also received the Bernard M. Gordon Prize, the highest U.S. honor in engineering education, for developing and implementing the Whole-Brain Engineering philosophy.
Senior Associate Dean, McCormick School of Engineering
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
After earning his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, Professor Lueptow joined Northwestern University, where he has built a distinguished academic career spanning nearly four decades. His research ranges from fundamental flow physics to water purification, resulting in nearly 200 peer-reviewed journal publications and six patents. He has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and has received numerous honors for excellence in both research and teaching.
Our judging panel includes professors and scholars from Northwestern University, Harvard University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and other leading universities, together with subject-matter experts from different industries around the world.
