Hosted in conjunction with the MIT Enterprise Forum
Moderator: Candida G. Brush, Division Chair in Entrepreneurship, Babson College
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
8:40 am — 9:40 am
Green Transportation
Leaders from companies that are transforming transportation discuss how emerging technologies will enable more environmentally friendly planes, trains, and automobiles.
Moderator: Jason Pontin, Technology Review
Confirmed Panelists: Yet-Ming Chiang, A123 Systems; Steven E. Koonin, BP
Top technologists discuss how more-powerful sensors, increasing processing power, cheap memory, fast wireless networks, and innovative software are radically changing the capabilities of handheld devices.
Moderator: Erika Jonietz, Technology Review Confirmed Panelists: Rich Miner, Google; Kevin Lynch, Adobe Systems;
Masaaki Maeda, DoCoMo USA
12:00 pm — 1:30 pm
Lunch and Emerging Technologies Showcase in Rockwell
1:30 pm — 2:45 pm
Concurrent breakout sessions
Session A
Cloud Computing
Software is migrating from the desktop into the “clouds” of the Internet, promising users anytime, anywhere access to the computational capabilities and data they need. But while cloud computing solves many problems, it also adds complexity to the network. What challenges does it present to users, programmers, and telecommunications providers?
Within 10 years, microchips will contain hundreds of processing “cores.” But the resulting performance gains will be much smaller if the cores are still connected with metal wires. “On-chip photonics” that let cores communicate with beams of light are currently the most promising alternative.
Moderator: Kate Greene, Technology Review
Session C
TR35: Biotech
A panel of past and present TR35/TR100 honorees discuss advances in biotechnology.
Moderator: Emily Singer, Technology Review
2:45 pm — 3:00 pm
BREAK
3:00 pm — 4:15 pm
Concurrent breakout sessions
Session A
Web 2.0/Web 3.0 Mashup
The Web is expanding with consumer-created content, with social-networking sites only adding to the explosion. Meanwhile, innovators are finally implementing search technologies that open the entire Web to our inquisitive minds. But what happens when the two collide? Will the growth of these Semantic Web technologies help weave consumer content into a more complex and interoperable tapestry?
Moderator: Robert Scoble, FastCompany.tv
Session B
TR35: Nano/Energy
A panel of past and present TR35/TR100 honorees discuss breakthroughs in nanomaterials and their impact on how we generate and consume power.
Moderator: Kevin Bullis, Technology Review
Session C
Electronic Health Records
Electronic health records have improved patient safety around the world, but American doctors and hospitals have been slow to adopt them. New large-scale projects such as Google Health and Microsoft's HealthVault suggest that this formerly stagnant field might be at a turning point. How will such systems actually benefit doctors and patients? And will the medical field finally jump onboard?
Moderator: Erika Jonietz, Technology Review
4:30 pm — 5:00 pm
TR35 Awards
A celebration of Technology Review 's award-winning young innovators, all under 35 years old, who exemplify innovation in business and technology.
5:00 pm — 7:00 pm
TR35 Reception and Emerging Technologies Showcase
Thursday, September 25, 2008
8:40 am — 9:30 am
Keynote
Craig Mundie, Chief Research & Strategy Officer, Microsoft
Following his success founding Sycamore Networks, Deshpande created the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT to serve as a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship. Hear his take on how collaboration among entrepreneurs, young companies, and academics drives innovation.
10:30 am — 10:45 am
BREAK
10:45 am — 11:45 am
E-Voting Debate
Electronic voting systems have spread throughout the United States since the 2000 presidential election, in part to increase the security, accuracy, and simplicity of voting. Yet serious questions about these systems remain. Experts and stakeholders discuss the security and benefits of e-voting, with particular focus on how it may affect the 2008 U.S. elections.
Lunch and Emerging Technologies Showcase in Rockwell
1:45 pm — 3:00 pm
Concurrent breakout sessions
Session A
Parallel Computing
Long the province of academic computer scientists and scientific researchers, parallel computing is moving into the mainstream as multicore microchips become standard. Intel and Microsoft have announced a $20 million collaboration with universities to spur practical research into consumer applications. How will these companies and others bring programming for multicore computers into wider use?
Moderator: Robert X. Cringely
Session B
Personal Genomics
Consumer genetic testing has blossomed in the past year, with companies offering customers information on everything from their racial ancestry to their relative risk of conditions such as obesity and cancer. But how will people react to knowing their genomic information, whether medical or genealogical? And do biologists even have enough information to accurately interpret genetic data?
Moderator: Emily Singer, Technology Review
Session C
Predictive Software
Computer scientists are taking advantage of vast databases and sophisticated modeling techniques to create algorithms that can make helpful predictions of traffic patterns, business opportunities, changes in financial markets, and even international conflicts. How will such foreknowledge change the way we make decisions?
2:00 pm — 3:15 pm
BREAK
3:15 pm — 4:30 pm
Concurrent breakout sessions
Session A
Is There a Clean-Tech Bubble?
Venture capitalists are investing record amounts in startups developing solar power, biofuels, and other renewable sources of energy. But is too much money fueling too many overhyped companies? And have we seen all this before? Experts realistically assess the opportunities and the dangers in the rapidly developing field of clean technology.
Moderator: David Rotman, Technology Review
Confirmed Panelists: James Kim, CMEA Ventures
Session B
Open-Source Hardware
Do-it-yourself hacker magazines, websites, and meetings are multiplying. It's easier than ever to buy inexpensive, off-the-shelf hardware components, from touch screens and cameras to GPS receivers and microcontrollers. The combination adds up to a growing trend toward “open-source hardware,” spurring innovation in gadget design.
Moderator: Kate Greene, Technology Review
Session C
TR35: IT
A panel of past and present TR35/TR100 honorees discuss innovations in IT.
Classically trained musician Zoë Keating combines her cello and a small box of electronics to create original works that inhabit a unique space somewhere between classical music and electronica.
Craig is one of two senior Microsoft executives chosen to take over the company’s technical leadership when Bill Gates retires from his day-to-day role in July 2008.
EMTECH08 FEATURED SPEAKERS
David P. Anderson Research Scientist, University of California, Berkeley
