Enriching Life - Question and Answer Session

Session
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
00:13 - 00:13
Duration: 23 mins
Publication date: 13 Mar 2013
Location: IETTV_Room, IETTV_Venue, London, United Kingdom
Part of event Global Grand Challenges Summit

About the session

Advances in information and communication technology have changed the ways we work, play and create in ways that were almost inconceivable 20 years ago. Researchers working at the interface between engineering and the creative arts are investigatingother technologies which might have an equally radical impact on our lives. This panel discussion looks at emerging technologies - from 3D printing, to artificial intelligence, to synthetic biology, to clothing that cleans the air - and asks how they might enhance the art we make, the stories we tell, the ways we interact with each other, and the ways we understand ourselves.

Channels

IET News

Speakers

Eric Brown

IBM, T.J. Watson Research Center, Watson Technologies, Director and Principal Investigator

Eric Brown is the Director and Principal Investigator for Watson Technologies at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. Eric earned his BSc at the University of Vermont and MSc and doctorate at the University of Massachusetts, all in computer science. Eric joined IBM in 1995 and has conducted research in information retrieval, document categorization, text analysis, question answering, bioinformatics, and applications of automatic speech recognition. Since 2007 Eric has been a technical lead on the DeepQA project at IBM and the application of automatic, open domain question answering to build the Watson Question Answering system. The goal of Watson is to achieve human-level question answering performance. This goal was realized in February of 2011 when Watson beat Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in a televised Jeopardy! exhibition match. Eric’s role on the project has spanned architecture development, special question processing, and hardware planning, and he is currently leading the team to apply Watson to clinical decision support in healthcare. Eric has published numerous conference and journal papers, and holds several patents in the areas of text analysis and question answering
Prof. Jim Al-Khalili

University of Surrey, Professor of Physics

Jim Al-Khalili is a professor of physics, author and broadcaster based at the University of Surrey where he currently teaches and also holds a chair in public engagement in science. He received his PhD in nuclear physics in 1989 and remains active in research in theoretical physics. He is active as a science communicator and has written a number of popular science and history of science books, between them translated into over twenty languages. His latest is Paradox: The Nine Greatest Enigmas in Physics. Jim is a regular presenter of TV science documentaries, including the Bafta nominated Chemistry: A Volatile History and, most recently, Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity and Order and Disorder, both for BBC4. He also presents the weekly BBC Radio 4 programme, The Life Scientific. He provides expert advice for bodies such as the Royal Society, the British Council and the Department for Education. He is also active in public life and is a strong advocate for rationalism and secularism and has recently taken over as president of the British Humanist Association. He is a recipient of the Royal Society Michael Faraday medal and the Institute of Physics Kelvin Medal. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2008.
Neil Gershenfeld

MIT, Director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms

Professor Neil Gershenfeld is Director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms. His laboratory is breaking down boundaries between the digital and physical worlds, from creating molecular quantum computers to virtuosic musical instruments. Technology from his lab has been used in settings including New York’s Museum of Modern Art and rural Indian villages, the White House and the World Economic Forum. He has authored numerous technical publications, patents, and books including Fab and The Physics of Information Technology. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, has been named one of Scientific American’s 50 leaders in science and technology, as one of 40 Modern-Day Leonardos by the Museum of Science and Industry, has been selected as a CNN/Time/Fortune Principal Voice, and by Prospect/Foreign Policy as one of the top 100 public intellectuals. Neil has a BA in physics from Swarthmore College, a PhD. in applied physics from Cornell University, and honorary doctorates from Swarthmore College and Strathclyde University. He was a Junior Fellow of the Harvard University Society of Fellows, and a member of the research staff at Bell Labs. He is the originator of the global network of field ‘fab labs’ that provide widespread access to prototype tools for personal fabrication, and directs the Fab Academy.
Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg

Artist, designer and writer

Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg is an artist, designer and writer, interrogating science, technology and new roles for design. As Design Fellow on Synthetic Aesthetics, an NSF/EPSRC-funded project between Stanford University and the University of Edinburgh, she curates an international programme investigating the ‘design of nature’, developing new modes of collaboration and critical discourse between art, design and synthetic biology. Daisy studied architecture at the University of Cambridge, design at Harvard University, and gained an MA in Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art. Her work has been exhibited at MoMA, The Wellcome Trust, London’s Design Museum, the Israel Museum and the National Museum of China, and is in Trento’s Museo Delle Scienze’s permanent collection. Daisy publishes, teaches and lectures internationally: talks include TEDGlobal and PopTech. In 2011, her work was nominated for the Brit Insurance Designs of The Year and the Index Award; she won the World Technology Award (Design), and in 2012 received the first London Design Medal for Emerging Talent.
Prof. Helen Storey

Artist and designer

Professor Helen Storey is a London-based artist and designer. After graduation in fashion in 1981, she worked with Valentino and Lancetti in Rome. Returning to London, she worked with Bellville Sassoon before launching her own label in 1983. Helen won Most Innovative Designer Of The Year and was nominated for British Designer Of The Year by The British Fashion Council. Since the mid-90s, Storey has been drawn towards the world of scientific research, resulting in awardwinning cross-disciplinary projects exploring biology, neuroscience and chemistry. The Helen Storey Foundation was formed in 1997 to promote creativity and innovation. Catalytic Clothing is Helen’s latest award-winning project in collaboration with Professor Tony Ryan with whom she has worked since 2008. They have sought to deliver textile substrates (and therefore clothes) with a technology to purify air. Helen holds Honorary Professorships at Heriot Watt University and King’s College London. She is a visiting Professor of Material Chemistry at Sheffield University and a Professor in Craft and Design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. She is a Professor of Fashion and Science at The Centre for Sustainable Fashion at The London College of Fashion. She received the MBE for services to the Arts in June 2009.

About the session

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