What is the most important engineering problem of our future?

[KenWittlief]

maybe technology could be used to address the population increase?

In the recent past couples had children to help with the farm or family business, and to insure that someone will be there to provide for their needs when they are old.

If a couple has no children who will be there for them when they need to be taken care of? Can technology address this?

Another reason why people have children is they want their ideas and beliefs to carry on after their death. We want our accomplishments to be remembered, and we want to be a part of molding future generations, as a parent, grandparent, etc.

What if a persons characteristics could be captured and emulated, by a computer generated character for example? I'm thinking along the lines of those star trek episodes where famous people from the past are re-created in the holodeck, for educational purposes. If a persons character and essence could be captured by a computer generated character, or even by a life-like robotic humanoid form, then in a sense the qualities and characteristics that we develop during our lives could live on after we die

and thereby to some extent, lessen the need to have children who will carry on after us?