The inaugural Spitzer Lecturer will be Jim Heath, the Gilloon Professor of Chemistry at Caltech. To many, Heath is responsible for the most important work to date in molecular electronics. He created the first molecular circuit, using molecules called rotaxanes to create molecular transistors, then building a 16-bit memory circuit from rotaxane molecules that bridged semiconductor crossbars. His work has provided the tools and fundamental units that most researchers in molecular electronics use today, and his focus is on the applications of nanotechnology to biological systems.
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This year’s Viterbi Lecturer will be Robert J. McEliece, a renowned information theorist who is the Allen E. Puckett Professor of Electrical Engineering at Caltech and the 2004 Shannon Lecturer of the IEEE. He has done novel mathematical work relating to the reliable storage and faster transmission of information. The Viterbi Lecture will be held on March 22, 2007.
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The inaugural Munushian Lecture will be given by Steven Chu, a Nobel Laureate in Physics (1997) for the "development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light." His work enables researchers to study fundamental phenomena and measure important physical quantities with unprecedented precision. Chu is currently the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a professor of Physics and Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, he held positions at Stanford University and AT&T Bell Laboratories. His research in atomic physics, quantum electronics, polymer and biophysics include tests of fundamental theories in physics, the development of methods to laser cool and trap atoms, atom interferometry, and the manipulation and study of polymers and biological systems at the single molecule level. The Munushian Lecture will be given April 10, 2007. |
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The first Bekey Lecture will be given by Ed Lazowska, the Bill and Melinda Gates Chair of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. Lazowska has done landmark work in high-performance computing and communication systems and in the design and implementation of distributed and parallel computer systems. Lazowska is also known as an outstanding academic leader and public servant. In 2005 he received both the Computing Research Association Distinguished Service Award and the Presidential Award of the Association for Computing Machinery "for showing us how to advocate effectively for IT research and advanced education."
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The Viterbi School’s Biomedical Engineering Department has named its keynote lecture for the late Fred S. Grodins the department’s founding chair. His 1963 publication, “Control Theory and Biological Systems,” is a landmark document on the earliest applications of engineering control theory to physiological systems. The first annual keynote lecture of the Viterbi School’s Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering department will be given by Anatol Roshko, the Theodore von Karman Professor of Aeronautics (Emeritus) at Caltech. Roshko is well known for his fundamental contributions to gas dynamics, especially in the areas of separated flow problems, bluff-body aerodynamics and the structure of turbulent shear flow. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The Viterbi School’s Civil and Environmental Engineering department and its Aerospace and Space Technology Division will be announcing their keynote lectures shortly.
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