So what's next? The biochips era, the nanotechnology age, or the quantum computing decade? Electronics is starting to cross-fertilize with the life sciences. A new 'age of imagination' if it can be conceived, it can be built is upon us. The changing collaborative design environments for systems-on-a-chip, the pushing of the envelope of Moore's Law in silicon, and the application of optics in everyday networks is just the start. Below are 18 stories that span the near-term to far-reaching future of engineering.