Automation to Understand and Ultimately Improve Health and the Environment for the Future

Location: Torreys Peak I - II

Invited Technical Speaker: Deirdre Meldrum, Dean of the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, Director of the Center for Ecogenomics, Director of the NIH Microscale Life Sciences Center, and Professor of Electrical Engineering at Arizona State University

Advances in automation combined with molecular biology, nanotechnology, chemistry, materials and communications are enabling significant technology advances that permit deeper understanding of human health, disease and our environment. In turn, new diagnostic capabilities and real-time monitoring systems are being developed to detect and respond to, or in some cases prevent, changes in living organisms and the environment.

Automation and its role in the rapidly evolving fields of medicine and the environment will be addressed by presenting relevant ongoing research in centers in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering and the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University along with other relevant results in these fields.

The Centers for Bioelectronics and Biosensors, EcoGenomics, Environmental Biotechnology and Nanobioscience are developing novel molecular, biological, chemical and electronic sensors and tools to take us from understanding how human cells and microorganisms work to personalized medicine and environmental monitoring. Technologies from the centers, including new polymer materials, sensors, microfluidics, nanotechnology and micro-optics are being integrated into microscale instrument modules to measure multiple parameters in living cells in real-time to correlate cellular events with genomic information (e.g. gene expression and genomic rearrangements).

These modules enable scientists to pursue and solve scientific questions that require analysis of heterogeneous cell populations. The microsystem modules are used for real-time quantitative assessment of expression of different genes and the resulting phenotypes as a function of environmental (and cell-to-cell) interactions.

The technology is being applied to fundamental problems of biology and health including cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Further development of the technology to make it small, robust in the real environment (human body, oceans, etc.), fast, and low power will enable in vivo diagnostics in humans and real-time monitoring of microbial populations in the environment. The talk will delve into exciting possibilities for the future.

Building the Earth in 3D (Hands-on)

Location:Crestone Peak I and the CyberCafe

Presenters: Lori Meiskey (Google), Jilmil Saraf (Google)

This talk will demonstrate how to create and update the buildings in Google Earth using the simple yet powerful 3D modeling software, Google SketchUp. We will also teach you how to instantly spiff-up your models by dragging and dropping pre-created models available in the 3D Warehouse. Come and learn to create your own world and share it with the world !!

Mid-Career Course Correction

Location: Crestone Peak II – IV

Presenters: Ira Pramanick (Google), Alexandra Krasne (Anita Borg Institute), Anne Krook (Amazon), Ana Pinczuk (Cisco Systems), Catherine C. Lasser (IBM), Mimi Hills (Sun Microsystems), Robin Goldstein (Microsoft)

Mid-career crisis can hit you suddenly. How do you determine that you are in that situation, and how do you get out of it? Are there ways to proactively avoid getting into such a situation? Successful women from ABI, Amazon, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft and Sun, will each draw from their rich experiences, to address these important questions, and to offer their advice.

The Synergistic Evolution of Software & Hardware Technologies

Location: Quandary Peak I – II

Moderator: Chitra Natarajan (Intel) Panelists: Janice Nickel (Hewlett-Packard), Mary Hall (University of Southern California), Cynthia McGuire (Sun Microsystems), Carol Eidt (Microsoft Corporation), Mary Smiley (Intel), Rina Raman (Xilinx)

As the complexity of system design increases, the dividing lines between hardware and software technologies become blurred. This panel discusses the synergistic evolution of software and hardware technologies in complex systems (such as high availability systems, mobile devices and services, biomedical appliances) and the challenges and opportunities presented by this evolution. Technical leaders from industry and academia discuss ways to foster collaboration as the pathway to breakthrough innovation.

Enabling Nonprofits to Accomplish Their Missions through Technology

Location: Torreys Peak III

Panelists: Meghan Morrison (Swift River Consulting), Meghan Nesbit (Salesforce.com), Sonja Karkare (NPower NY), Janice Lathen (Powering Potential), Moderator: Kathy Gee (Anita Borg Institute)

Speakers will discuss how different technologies have benefited humanity by enabling nonprofits to better meet their missions and improve impact. Topics will include how organizations can apply technology resources to help create healthy, vibrant communities, using Salesforce.com to improve communities, inspire youth to be more successful, and support the world in times of need and promote “compassionate capitalism”, and bringing and teaching computers to students in rural Tanzania.

Women of Color Career Panel

Location: Quandary Peak III

Moderator: Loretta A. Moore, Professor and Chair, Jackson State University Panelists : Yet to be Named

The Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC – http://www.cdc-computing.org/), a joint organization of the ACM, CRA, and IEEE-CS, organized this panel to provide an open discussion about current environments and career paths that lead to success for women of color. In particular, the panel will discuss issues relevant to support mechanisms and climates that are necessary to thrive. In addition, the panelists will discuss their particular career paths, identifying issues that still need to be addressed.

Build a Better Processor: Breaking through the Technology Challenges

Location: Torreys Peak IV

Presenters: Mary Jo Doherty (Sun Microsystems), Sonia Leon (Sun Microsystems)

In this presentation we’ll discuss new challenges in microprocessor design presented by characteristics of the latest sub-micron process technologies. We’ll describe approaches to meet those challenges in architecture and logic design, circuit and physical design, and especially in the exciting areas where all of these meet. The target audience includes anyone interested in the latest trends in microprocessors, especially any students who are considering a career in hardware design.