Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 2:30 PM
Ramo Auditorium
FREE; no tickets or reservations required

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Keynote Speaker:
Steven Koonin
Undersecretary for Science at the U.S. Department of Energy

Panel Moderator:
James Langer
Marshall Scholar 1955; University of California-Santa Barbara

Panelists:
Harry Atwater
California Institute of Technology

Paul Dimotakis
California Institute of Technology; Jet Propulsion Laboratory

William Gross
Idealab

Seema Jayachandran
Marshall Scholar 1993; Stanford University

Mary Nichols
California Air Resources Board

Steven Koonin received his bachelor of science degree in physics at Caltech and his doctorate in theoretical physics at MIT. He joined the faculty at Caltech and has been both chairman of the faculty and provost. He began a leave of absence to serve as chief scientist at BP in London before being invited to join the Obama administration.

James Langer is a research professor of physics at the UC-Santa Barbara. His primary scientific interests have been in theories of nonequilibrium phenomena and most recently, the dynamics of deformation and failure in noncrystalline solids.

Harry Atwater is currently Howard Hughes Professor and professor of applied physics and materials science at Caltech. He serves as director of the Caltech Center for Sustainable Energy Research and as director of the Center for Light-Material Interactions, a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center.

Paul Dimotakis is the John K. Northrop Professor Aeronautics and professor of applied physics at Caltech, and presently serves as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory chief technologist.

William Gross founded Idealab in March 1996 and serves as the company’s board chairman and CEO. Idealab creates and develops pioneering businesses that capitalize on innovations in areas with significant growth opportunities.

Seema Jayachandran is an assistant professor in the department of economics at Stanford University and is a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her research focuses on the economics of developing countries, in particular issues related to health, education, and political economy.

Chairman Mary Nichols was appointed to the California Air Resources Board, where her responsibilities include implementation of California’s landmark climate change program and funding research at a number of universities on policy development.