Discovery Park to host Convergence Conference

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Discovery Park will hold a conference on Convergence and the Future of Research on Friday (Oct. 6) in the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship on Purdue University’s campus.

The event, which will run from 1-6 p.m., is free and is open to the public. It will include a series of Voss Talks (TED-style talks) presented by leading experts, followed by a panel discussion on the future of research. A reception with the distinguished speakers will follow the conference.

Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, chief scientist and executive director of Discovery Park, notes that the conference topics align with Discovery Park’s emphasis on transdisciplinary problem-solving around its strategic themes of global health, global security and global sustainability.

“Each of these exponential trends — from big data and quantum computing to precision agriculture — is transforming society in fundamental ways that we’re only now starting to understand,” he says. “We want to examine how the convergence of advanced technologies, policy and business can create real solutions with impact to society.”

The Voss Talks topics and speakers are:

• AI, machine and deep learning: The future of data science – Sanjay Padhi, manager of research and technical computing, Amazon Web Services.

• Connected and autonomous vehicles: The future of mobility – Scott Corwin, managing director, future of mobility leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP.

• Precision agriculture: The future of agriculture – Karen Plaut, interim dean, College of Agriculture, Purdue University.

• Bionanotechnology: The future of healthcare – Rashid Bashir, the Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering, head of the Department of Bioengineering, and executive associate dean of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

• The continuous technology offset: The future of defense and national security – Ted Johnson, research manager of the Center for Government Insights, Deloitte Services LLP.

The Voss Talks are named in memory of Purdue alumna Janice Voss, a pioneer in space travel for women. Logging five flights, she spent a total of 49 days in space and traveled 18.8 million miles in 779 Earth orbits.

The conference will be livestreamed and can be viewed at http://www.kaltura.com/tiny/kpidc. For more information about the Discovery Park Convergence and Future of Research Conference, visit www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/convergence. 

Writer: Angie Roberts, 765-494-2629, akroberts@purdue.edu

Source: Maria Longoria-Littleton, 765-494-0015, mlongori@purdue.edu