Energy: Transition to a Sustainable Future

October 31 - November 1, 2011

Part of the AVS International Symposium and Exhibition, cosponsored by AVS

Meeting agenda

The Industrial Physics Forum (IPF), an American Institute of Physics (AIP) outreach event hosted at AIP member society meetings is returning after a three year hiatus for the fourth time to the AVS International Symposium with the topic Energy: transition to a sustainable future.

The topic of energy at the AVS International Symposium is an ever increasing presence as evidenced by the large number of energy related topical sessions. The IPF was devised to stimulate communication and encourage networking and cooperation among scientists and engineers from industry, academia and national laboratories, as well as to enhance the appreciation by IPF attendees of the opportunities in the non-academic sector, the largest employer of technical and scientific personnel.

By design this year’s IPF on “Energy: transition to a sustainable future” is composed of select topics that address not only global issues necessary to gain a proper perspective of the intricate interdependence of scientific, technical and geopolitical issues that constrain or redirect development towards a sustainable energy future, but also address specific technical challenges and novel approaches to energy supply issues, some of which are not typically covered at the AVS Symposium. The IPF thus serves as a lead-in into the more detailed talks presented throughout the Symposium week.

The IPF consists of three sessions of all invited talks:

  1. Energy: Global Prospects
  2. The Electric Economy: The Supply/Demand Challenge
  3. Materials for a Sustainable Future

The total of 13 invited speakers from industry (6), academia (5) and national labs (2) include:

  • Internationally acclaimed experts in energy policy and electric infrastructure
  • Energy strategy leaders from industry and national laboratories with diverse scientific and technical responsibilities for future technologies
  • Prominent researchers in leading-edge energy sciences and technology covering bio-systems, energy storage technologies and nano-structural application to energy issues

The talks will stress the scientific and technical hurdles facing the energy supply challenge and the status of emerging technologies anticipated to be needed for a sustainable energy future.

Code Session

EN-MoM

Energy: Global Prospects

Monday October 31, 8:20am - 12:00pm

Moderators R. A. Sears, MIT; B. Clark, Schlumberger

8:20 AM Energy Security and Energy Policy
William Hogan, Harvard
9:00 AM Technology Innovation and China's Skyrocketing
Demand for Energy

Ed Steinfeld, MIT
9:40 AM Making Energy Sustainable – Scientific Challenges
in Determining the Pathways to the Future
Ellen Williams, BP plc UK
10:40 AM Synthetic Biology for Energy and the Environment
Ari Patrinos, Synthetic Genomics (SGI)
11:20 AM Manufacturing Innovations for a Sustainable
Energy Future

Om Nalamasu, Applied Materials

EN-MoA

The Electric Economy: The Supply/Demand Challenge

Monday, October 31, 2:00pm - 5:00pm

Moderators J. W. Rogers, INL; J. N. Hollenhorst, Agilent

2:00 PM The Role of Nuclear Energy in a Sustainable
Energy Scenario

Harold McFarlane, Idaho National Laboratory
2:40 PM What's So Smart about the "Smart Grid?"
John Kassakian, MIT
3:40 PM Electrochemical Energy Storage for Renewable
Integration and Grid Applications: Status,
Challenges and Opportunities

Gary Yang, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

EN-TulVl

Materials for a Sustainable Future

Tuesday, November 1, 8:00am - 11:20pm

Moderators D. G. Seiler, NIST; J. S. Murday, USC

8:00 AM Materials for Low Risk Nuclear Reactors
Todd Allen, U. Wisconsin/Madison
8:40 AM Battery 500 - the Li-Air Battery Opportunity
Sally Swanson, IBM Research Division-Almaden
9:20 AM Advanced Thermoelectric Technology for Waste
Heat Recovery

Greg Meisner, General Motors R&D Center
10:40 AM Improving Solar Energy Conversion with
Nanoscale Materials

Stacey Bent, Stanford University