Keynote Presentations
Tuesday 14 October
11:00 a.m. - 12 p.m.
From Smart Dust to Smart Plants – The Evolution of Wireless Sensor Networking
Dr. Kris Pister
The University of California at Berkeley
It has been over a decade since the Smart Dust project Kris started in Berkeley launched a wave of academic research and venture capital investment based on the promise of wireless sensor networks. While many predicted the explosion of consumer applications and home automation, the surprising killer application for this technology is industrial automation. Wireless sensor networking is emerging as a game-changing technology for the industrial market. With the first wave of industry-standard products now available and compelling case studies that demonstrate dramatic end-user benefits, we are just starting to see the full impact of this technology. In this talk Kris will discuss key milestones in the development of wireless sensing from his pioneering work in MEMS for the military to the lessons learned in developing and commercializing wireless solutions that meet the demands of the industrial market.
Wednesday 15 October
9:00 a.m. - 10 a.m.
Rimbach Lecture 2008
Instrumentation for Low Energy Nuclear Reactions
Dr. David J. Nagel
The George Washington University
Two chemists announced in 1989 that they could produce nuclear reactions and energy under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. They were Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons. Their reactions were termed “cold fusion”, even though no one really knew then what nuclear reactions might be occurring. In the years since 1989, hundreds of experiments have been done on what is now called Low Energy Nuclear Reactions, or the Fleischmann-Pons Effect. The experiments have involved electrochemical, gas phase, plasma and beam interactions with solids. Power production and new materials have been reported in many studies. The total body of experimental evidence shows that it is indeed possible to produce nuclear reactions at low input energies. However, the field remains controversial and poorly understood. There is no satisfactory theory now for what has been observed. Past and current experiments require sophisticated instrumentation, including both multiple sensors and automated control of relevant conditions. Many people, including those in several start-up companies, believe that understanding, control, optimization and commercial exploitation of this new means to trigger nuclear reactions will follow in the coming years. That could lead to a new industry that manufactures individual nuclear power units for homes and offices, which produce very small amounts of prompt radiation and negligible radioactivity. The units could have many uses, notably the production of clean drinking water. If the anticipated advances occur, including significant scaling up in power levels, a new nuclear reactor industry will emerge. Sensing and control instrumentation will be as critical in that industry as they are in current energy production and process control industries.
Thursday 16 October
9:00 a.m. - 10 a.m.
Feedback Control: How We Learned to Think Negatively in 300 BC
Dr. John Lienhard
The University of Houston
John Lienhard is a nationally-acclaimed radio host and the M.D. Anderson Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and History at the University of Houston. His radio show, The Engines of Our Ingenuity, airs five days a week on NPR on more than 45 stations across the country. Dr. Lienhard uses the record of history to reveal the way art, technology, and ideas have shaped us, and to show how our culture is formed by human creativity. Dr. Lienhard has authored several books highlighting the inspiration of invention and how our culture both influences, and is influenced by, invention. He received BS and MS degrees from Oregon State College and the University of Washington, his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, and he holds two honorary doctorates. He is known for his research in the thermal sciences as well as in cultural history. He is an Honorary Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.