Summit Series on the NAE Grand Challenges

Confirmed speakers and panelists:

John F. Ahearne, vice-chairman, Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee

John F. Ahearne is the director of the Ethics Program at Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, a lecturer in public policy at Duke University and an adjunct scholar at Resources for the Future. His professional interests are reactor safety, energy issues, resource allocation, and public policy management. Ahearne received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1959 to 1970, resigning as major. He has also served as deputy and principal deputy assistant secretary of defense (1972-1977), in the White House Energy Office (1977), as deputy assistant secretary of energy (1977-1978), and as commissioner and chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (chairman, 1979-1981).  Ahearne currently serves on the Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the Society for Risk Analysis, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, Sigma Xi, and the American Nuclear Society. He currently chairs the NRC Committee on the Effects of Nuclear Earth-Penetrator Weapons and other Weapons and serves as a member on the Committee on Best Practices for Nuclear Materials Protection, Control, and Accounting. From 2001-2003, he served as co-chair of the NRC Committee on End Points for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in Russia and the United States. 

Nancy Allbritton, professor and chair, UNC/NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering

Nancy Allbritton obtained her B.S. in physics from Louisiana State University, her Ph.D. in medical physics/medical engineering from M.I.T., and her M.D. from Johns Hopkins University.  Upon completion of a postdoctoral fellowship in cell biology at Stanford University, she joined the faculty of the University of California at Irvine in 1994 where she held joint appointments in the departments of physiology and biophysics, biomedical engineering, and chemical engineering & materials science.  She joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) as a distinguished professor in the Department of Chemistry in July, 2007. She is currently professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint department between the School of Medicine at UNC and the College of Engineering at NCSU. Allbritton's research studies are directed at the development of new technologies by bringing to bear methods from engineering, chemistry, and physics to address biomedical problems. 

Graham Allison, professor, Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government

Graham Allison is director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. As "founding dean" of the modern Kennedy School, under his leadership, from 1977 to 1989, a small, undefined program grew twenty-fold to become a major professional school of public policy and government. Dr. Allison has served as special advisor to the Secretary of Defense under President Reagan.  He has the sole distinction of having twice been awarded the Department of Defense's highest civilian award, the Distinguished Public Service Medal, first by Secretary Cap Weinberger and second by Secretary Bill Perry. He served as a member of the Defense Policy Board for Secretaries Weinberger, Carlucci, Cheney, Aspin, Perry and Cohen.  Allison's first book, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (1971), was released in an updated and revised second edition (1999) and ranks among the bestsellers in 20th century political science with more than 400,000 copies in print. His latest book, Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe, is now in its third printing and was selected by the New York Times as one of the "100 most notable books of 2004."

Melissa Driver Beard, executive director and chief executive officer of Engineering World Health

Melissa Driver Beard is currently the executive director and CEO of Engineering World Health, a Durham, NC based nonprofit working with university-based biomedical engineers, industry professionals, charities that manage donated medical equipment, the international health community and developing countries.  Although she is still relatively new to this position, she has been actively promoting EWH’s mission of supporting the combination of innovation in appropriate technology with direct support to medical technology management, maintenance and repair.  At present, she is focusing her efforts on the EWH SumMer Institutes in Central America and Tanzania , the EWH kits program, EWH interaction with its chapters worldwide and the new Biomedical Equipment Technician Training program in Rwanda. With over 15 years leadership experience in the nonprofit arena, Melissa has held positions with the United Nations, the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society of North Carolina, and Prevent Blindness NC.  Beard is skilled in multiple languages and holds a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Economics and International Studies.  She also holds her Master of Public Administration Degree with a concentration in community health.
 

Marshall Brain, founder of HowStuffWorks

Marshall Brain is most widely known as the founder of HowStuffWorks, an award-winning resource website that offers clear, objective and easy-to-understand explanations of how the world around us actually works. The site, which he created as a hobby in 1998, has won countless awards and was purchased for $250 million by Discovery Communications in 2007. In addition to being a successful entrepreneur and consultant, Brain is also the author of more than a dozen books including Manna, How Much Does the Earth Weigh?, and The Teenager's Guide to the Real World, now in its tenth printing and selected for the New York Public Library's prestigious "Books for the Teen  Age" list. Brain earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic University and a M.S. in computer science from NC State University, where he taught computer science for six years, and was selected as a member of the NC State University Academy of Outstanding Teachers.

John T. Chambers, chairman and chief executive officer, Cisco

John Chambers is chairman and CEO of Cisco. He has helped grow the company from $70 million when he joined Cisco in January 1991, to $1.2 billion when he assumed the role of CEO, to its current run rate of $36 billion. In November 2006, Chambers was named chairman of the Board, in addition to his CEO role. Chambers has received numerous awards for his leadership over his past 15 years at the helm of Cisco, including: Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People,” one of Barron’s “World’s Most Respected CEOs,” the “Best Boss in America” by 20/20, one of BusinessWeek’s “Top 25 Executives Worldwide,” “CEO of the Year” by Chief Executive Magazine, the Business Council’s “Award for Corporate Leadership,” and “Best Investor Relations by a CEO” from Investor Relations Magazine three times. During his tenure as CEO, Cisco has been named to Fortune’s “America’s Most Admired Company” list seven times, BusinessWeek’s “Top 50 Performers” list six times, Forbes’ “Leading Companies in the World,” and is one of the top 10 places to work in the United States, China, Germany, France, India, UK, Australia, Singapore, and several other countries.

William S. Charlton, director, Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute; associate professor, Nuclear Engineering Department, Texas A&M University
William Charlton serves as the director of the Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) at Texas A&M University and as an associate professor in the nuclear engineering department. NSSPI is a multi-disciplinary organization that coordinates research and education programs in the area of nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear security, and nuclear material safeguards. NSSPI customers include NNSA (National Nuclear Safety Adminsitration), DOE (Department of Energy), DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office), NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) and the National Science Foundation. Prior to his appointment at Texas A&M, he was an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin and prior to that served on the technical staff in the Nonproliferation and International Security Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He teaches courses which study the technical aspects of nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and nuclear security as well as fundamentals of nuclear engineering.  Charlton is recognized as one of the leaders in the technical area of nuclear nonproliferation and has over 150 technical publications in refereed journals and conference proceedings.

David C. Dayton, director of chemistry, Biomass Program manager, Center for Energy Technology, RTI International

David C. Dayton is the director of chemistry and Biomass Program manager in RTI's Center for Energy Technology, with over 15 years of project management and research experience in biomass thermochemical conversion research and development. Prior to joining RTI, Dayton was the thermochemical platform leader at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where he managed $5 million/year of funding for biomass thermochemical conversion projects. He has extensive experience investigating fundamental, high-temperature kinetics of thermochemical conversion processes. He also has extensive R&D experience related to cleanup and conditioning of biomass-derived synthesis gas, specifically catalytic steam reforming of tars, to provide a suitable feedstock for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals. Dayton came to RTI in 2007 following 14 years at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He was a postdoctoral research associate at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, from 1991 to 1993. He received his PhD in physical chemistry from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1990 and a BS in chemistry from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1985. He has published over 50 technical papers and reports.

Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of California, Los Angeles
Timothy John Deming is a specialist in polymer and materials synthesis, and biomedical applications of polypeptide materials. He leads research focused on new, practical chemical routes for the synthesis of biological and bio-mimetic materials with superior qualities. Deming earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of California, Irvine. He has been the chair of bioengineering at UCLA since 2006. He previously served on the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and was a recipient of a IUPAC Macromolecular Division Young Scientist Award (2004) and an MRS Young Investigator Award (2003).

Joseph DeSimone, Chancellor's Eminent Professor of Chemistry, University of North Carolina; William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University

Joseph DeSimone specializes in adapting precision manufacturing approaches from the microelectronics industry for application in nano-medicine and indevelop new strategies for the delivery of detection, imaging and therapeutic agents for the battle against human disease. DeSimone was the 2009 recipient of the NIH Director's Pioneer Award and the North Carolina Award, the state's highest civilian honor. Additionally, he was the 2008 recipient of the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize and named one of the "100 Engineers of the Modern Era" by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) marking the 100th Anniversary of the AIChE. Business Leader Magazine awarded him the 2007/2008 Impact Entrepreneur of the Year for the Triangle. DeSimone is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Kendall Fitzgerald, NC State University, chemical engineering 2010

Kendall Fitzgerald is a senior in chemical engineering at North Carolina State University.  He served as a leader in the College’s Engineering Ambassador Program and co-chaired the 2009 Krispy Kreme Challenge.  He was a summer intern at GE in 2008 and at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in 2009.  Kendall participated in undergraduate research with Professor Wesley Henderson to develop ionic liquids suitable for use in batteries and capacitors.  His senior design project involved working with a small start-up company to develop processes for creating synthetic crude oil from renewable plant biomass feedstock.

 

 

Geoffrey S. Ginsburg, director, Center for Genomic Medicine, Duke Institute for Genome Science and Policy

Geoffrey Ginsburg, M.D., Ph.D., is the founding director of the Center for Genomic Medicine in the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy and co-director of the Duke Translational Medicine Institute. He is also a professor of medicine and of pathology at Duke University's Medical Center. Ginsburg earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in biophysics from Boston University. Prior to coming to Duke, Ginsburg served on the faculty at Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School where he was director of preventive cardiology. He also served as Vice President of Molecular and Personalized Medicine at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He is a founding member of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, and an associate editor for Genomic Medicine and The Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 

Howard Hall, professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee

Howard Hall joined the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee in May, 2009. He is appointed as the University of Texas and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor's Chair in Nuclear Security. Hall is afFellow in Global Security Policy at the Howard H. Baker J. Center for Public Polity at the University of Tennessee and serves as director of the Baker Center's Global Security Programs. Hall received his Ph.D. in nuclear and radiochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. He earned a B.S. in chemistry from the College of Charleston. Hall has more than 20 years of experience at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he led major scientific and operational missions in nuclear and homeland security. He is a member of the American Nuclear Society, the American Physical Society, the American Chemical Society, and a fellow of the American Institute of Chemists.

Fred Hassan, former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Schering-Plough

Fred Hassan was the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough from 2003 until November 3, 2009 when the company completed its merger with Merck & Co. On October 29, 2009 Time Warner announced that Hassan would join their board of directors. Hassan has previously served as chief executive officer of Pharmacia Corporation, executive vice president of American Home Products Corporation, and president of Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories. Hassan is a member of the board of directors of Avon Products, Inc., and is president of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations. He is the past chairman of the board of directors of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and is also the past chairman of the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey. Hassan earned a degree in chemical engineering from the Imperial College London in 1967, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1972.

David Hill, deputy laboratory director, Idaho National Laboratory

David J. Hill is deputy laboratory director for Science & Technology at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. Hill is responsible for the science and technology strategy for the lab and for the lab's R&D programs pertaining to nuclear energy, National and homeland security, and clean energy.  An internationally acknowledged expert on nuclear reactor and fuel cycle issues, Hill has extensive experience in the area of international nuclear cooperation, working with the countries of both Western Europe and the former Soviet Union. He joined Idaho National Laboratory in 2005 from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he was associate laboratory director, energy and engineering sciences. Previously, Hill served at Argonne National Laboratory, where he was deputy associate laboratory director of engineering research, having held positions as director of the divisions of reactor analysis and engineering, reactor engineering, and the International Nuclear Safety Center. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a doctorate in mathematical physics from Imperial College, London University, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Maggie Hoff, Duke University, Civil Engineering 2010

Maggie Hoff, a native of Pecatonica, Illinois, is a senior civil and environmental engineering major. She is also a member of Chi Epsilon (Civil Engineering Honor Society), and has appeared on numerous occasions on the Dean's List and Dean's List with Distinction. For her research project, she is analyzing historic groundwater data, current groundwater recovery patterns and potentiometric surfaces to evaluate the migration of impacted groundwater in the saprolite and bedrock aquifers beneath the North Carolina State University Lot 86 National Priorities List site. She conducts three-dimensional modeling of the contaminant plume and evaluates the transport processes, natural attenuation, and hydrologic impediments to fluid flow in the subsurface. After graduation, she will be working in the Environmental Health & Safety track of General Electric Aviation's Operations Management Leadership Program.
 

Jeffrey R. Immelt, chairman and chief executive officer, GE

Kristina Johnson, under secretary for energy, Department of Energy

Kristina M. Johnson is currently the under secretary for energy at the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C.  Prior to her appointment as under secretary, Johnson was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at The Johns Hopkins University. She received her B.S., M.S. (with distinction) and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University. After a NATO post-doctoral fellowship at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, she joined the University of Colorado-Boulder’s faculty in 1985 as an assistant professor and was promoted to full professor in 1994. From 1994 to 1999 Dr. Johnson directed the National Science Foundation/Engineering Research Center for Optoelectronics Computing Systems Center at the University of Colorado and Colorado State University, and then served as dean of the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University from 1999 to 2007. Johnson was named an NSF Presidential Young Investigator in 1985 and awarded a Fulbright fellowship in 1991. Her awards include the Dennis Gabor Prize for creativity and innovation in modern optics (1993); State of Colorado and North Carolina Technology Transfer Awards (1997, 2001); induction into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame (2003); the Society of Women Engineers Lifetime Achievement Award (2004); and in May of 2008, the John Fritz Medal, widely considered the highest award in the engineering profession. Previous recipients of the Fritz Medal include Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison and Orville Wright.

Mark Johnson, program director, Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, Department of Energy; associate professor, NC State University

Mark Johnson recently joined the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy as a program director.  Prior to this time, he served as the director of the Industry and Innovation Programs for the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center, a National Science Foundation Gen-III Engineering Research Center targeting the convergence of power electronics, energy storage, renewable resource integration and information technology for electric power systems.  He is an associate professor of materials science and engineering as well as director of Engineering for the Technology, Entrepreneurship and Commercialization (TEC) Program at NC State University.  His work focuses on the intersection between smart-grid; renewable energy, advanced semiconductors; communications and photonics technologies; entrepreneurship; tech-transfer and public-private partnership formation.

Thomas C. Katsouleas, dean, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University

Thomas C. Katsouleas, Ph.D, is dean of Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering. A specialist in the use of plasmas as novel particle accelerators and light sources, Katsouleas had served on the faculty of the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering since 1991. He joined the USC faculty as an associate professor of electrical engineering and rose steadily through the academic ranks, becoming full professor in 1997. During his tenure at USC, Katsouleas served in a variety of administrative and academic capacities. Before joining USC, he served for seven years on the faculty of UCLA, after having earned a Ph.D. in physics and B.S. (summa cum laude) in physics, both from UCLA. As an expert in high-performance computing, Katsouleas' primary research focus is applying plasma physics to improve and miniaturize particle accelerators -- devices that accelerate subatomic particles at high speeds in a controlled fashion. These devices have many applications, from providing information of what happens within atoms to unlocking clues on the origins of the universe. He is a fellow of both the American Physical Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He serves as associate editor of the journal IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, and his work has been featured on the covers of Physical Review Letters, Scientific American, the CERN Courier and Nature. He has authored or co-authored over 200 publications and given more than 50 major invited talks.

Senator and engineer, Edward E. "Ted" Kaufman

Ted Kaufman was sworn in as Delaware’s junior senator on January 16, 2009, replacing Vice President Joe Biden.  As the only serving U.S. Senator who worked as an engineer, Kaufman has advocated for a renewed emphasis on science, engineering, and innovation to meet the increasing challenges of a competitive global economy. In June, he introduced the STEM Education Coordination Act (S. 1210) -- bipartisan legislation that will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education efforts by establishing a committee under the National Science and Technology Council to coordinate federal STEM education programs and activities. Earlier this year, Kaufman advocated for the inclusion of increased service opportunities for retired engineers and other STEM professionals in the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.  A number of provisions were added to the original Senate bill, which created additional service opportunities to help inspire a new generation of students to pursue STEM education, including students from disadvantaged communities. Since 1991, Kaufman has taught courses in the law school, business school, and public policy program of his alma mater, Duke University. From 1995 to 1999 he was Co-Chair of the Duke Law School Center for the Study of the Congress. Kaufman originally moved to Delaware in 1966 to work for the DuPont Company. He graduated from Duke University with a degree in mechanical engineering, and then earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Andrew C. Klein, professor, Oregon State University

Andrew C. Klein is a professor of nuclear engineering and radiation health physics at Oregon State University. Klein was loaned to the Idaho National Laboratory from 2005 to 2009 as director of educational partnerships and has served as department head, radiation center director, and Oregon Space Grant director at OSU. Klein received his B.S. from Pennsylvania State University and his M.S. and Ph.D., all in nuclear engineering, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  His research interests focus primarily on the utilization of advanced nuclear energy systems, including space and fusion. Klein is a registered professional engineer (nuclear) and has served on the board of directors of the American Nuclear Society, the Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee, NASA’s Space Science Advisory Committee, and ABET Inc.’s Engineering Accreditation Commission.  He is currently a member of the National Nuclear Accrediting Board.

Dale Klein, commissioner, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Dale Klein was sworn into the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in July 2006. Before joining the NRC, Klein served as the assistant to the secretary of defense for nuclear and biological defense programs. Klein has also served as vice-chancellor for special engineering programs at the University of Texas system and as a professor of mechanical engineering (nuclear program) at the University of Texas, Austin. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Nuclear Society. He was awarded the Joe J. King Professional Engineering Achievement Award; Engineer of the Year for the State of Texas; the University of Missouri Faculty-Alumni Award; and the University of Missouri Honor Award for Distinguished Service in Engineering.
 

Louis Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering, North Carolina State University

Dr. Louis A. Martin-Vega is the dean of the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. A registered professional engineer in Florida and Puerto Rico, he is a fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, a fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and a member of INFORMS, American Society of Engineering Education, Tau Beta Phi, Alpha Pi Mu and Sigma Xi. He received the Albert Holzman Distinguished Educator Award from IIE in May 1999. He holds a B.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, an M.S. in operations research from New York University and M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Florida. His efforts in college education and the promotion of diversity were nationally recognized in 2000 through his receipt of the HENACC-Hispanic Engineering National Education Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Pan American Academy of Engineering in 2002 and served as President of the Institute of Industrial Engineers in 2007-08. He also received the 2007 National Hispanic Scientist of the Year Award from the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Florida, and in that same year was recognized by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the U.S. The North Carolina Society of Engineers honored him as the Outstanding Engineer in North Carolina for 2008.

Edward Moses, principal associate director NIF & Photon Science

Edward Moses has 18 years of experience developing Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration laser systems and 30 years of experience developing and managing complex laser systems and high-technology projects. As associate director for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) Program from 2005 to 2007 and now as principal associate director for the NIF & Photon Science Directorate, he is responsible for completing construction and bringing into full operation the world's largest optical instrument for achieving ignition in the laboratory and for studying inertial fusion energy. He has been instrumental in sustaining the program's current strong performance. Moses joined Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in 1980, becoming program leader for isotope separation and material processing and deputy associate director for lasers. From 1990 to 1995, he was a founding partner of Advanced Technology Applications, Inc., which advised clients on proposing and designing high-technology projects. He returned to LLNL in 1995 for program development, physics and space technology. Moses received his bachelor's degree and doctorate from Cornell University in New York. He has won numerous awards, including the 2003 NNSA Award of Excellence for Significant Contribution to Stockpile Stewardship, the 2004 DOE Award of Excellence for the first joint Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory/Los Alamos National Laboratory experiments on NIF, and the D.S. Rozhdestvensky Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Lasers and Optical Sciences. He holds seven patents in laser technology and computational physics.

Farrokh Najmabadi, director, Center for Energy Research, University of California, San Diego

Najmabadi''s research focuses on the exploration and application of advanced technologies to improve the economic and environmental attractiveness of emerging energy sources.  He is an expert in fusion energy and applied plasma physics; and laser-matter and laser-plasma interaction. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of over 160 articles, the editor of seven special issues of scientific journals, and serves as chairman or member of over 20 review and advisory panels mainly for Department of Energy or National Laboratories.

 

Will Patrick, Duke University 2010, Mechanical Engineering

Will Patrick, a native of Chapel Hill, N.C., is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering. During his time at Duke, he has been a StartingBloc Fellow, a DukeEngage Fellow, a Duke Start-up Challenge Runner-up in 2008, and a second-place winner in the . 2008 Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition. The aim of his research is to model, build, and test a piezoelectric wind energy harvesting device that can harvest wind energy more efficiently at low-wind speeds than current wind generators. The device will generate milliwatts of power, enough to run small electronic sensors that collect data in the built and natural environment. This summer he will be a business associate for Embrace Global, a non-profit in India. From 2010 to 2012, he will be in Google’s Rotational Associate Manager Program of Google, and from 2012 to 2014, he will be at Harvard Business School as a part of its 2+2 program.

Vikram Rao, executive director, Research Triangle Energy Consortium

Vikram Rao assumed the executive director position at Research Triangle Energy Consortium on September 1, 2008. Rao spent more than 30 years with Halliburton, a leading energy service company, most recently serving as senior vice president and chief technology officer, responsible for the company’s technology effort as well as intellectual asset management. During his tenure with Halliburton, Rao also held executive management positions in research and development, product launch, reservoir studies, and sales and marketing. He joined the company in 1974 as a senior research engineer. Rao is the author of more than 40 publications and has been awarded 24 patents in fields that include non-ferrous metal refining, alloy formulations, and oil and gas technology. Rao earned a doctorate degree and a master's in engineering from Stanford University, and holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India.
 

Ned Sauthoff, director of U.S. Contributions to ITER Project, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Ned Sauthoff is a plasma physicist and project manager of the U.S. Contributions to International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor Project (ITER), the U.S. portion of an international partnership aimed at demonstrating the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy using magnetic confinement of plasmas. ITER is a large toroidal magnetic confinement device of the tokamak configuration that is being built by China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United States. It will be sited in Cadarache, France. Prior to establishment of the U.S. ITER Project Office, Sauthoff was head of the Off-Site Research Department at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), where he managed research on leading facilities around the United States and the world to address key fusion physics and technology questions. Sauthoff received his bachelor's degree in physics and master's degree in nuclear engineering from MIT in 1972 and his Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University in 1975. He developed x-ray instrumentation and performed research on tokamak plasmas at PPPL from 1975 to 1980. He managed design of the control and data system for the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) until 1985 and headed the PPPL Computer Division until 1988, the Princeton Beta Experiment until 1990, the Experimental Projects Department until 1992, the Physics Department until 1994, and the Plasma Science and Technology Department until 1997. Dr. Sauthoff was the president of IEEE-USA in 2001 and was IEEE-USA's Vice-President for Technology Policy from 1998 to 1999. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.

John David Sanderson, biomedical engineering 2010, NC State University

John Sanderson is a senior at North Carolina State University majoring in biomedical engineering and minoring in Spanish.  He is the president of the Engineering World Health chapter at NC State and was president of the NC State club golf team during the 2008-2009 academic year.  He is currently an at-large member of the student media board of directors and is a founding committee member of the NCSU Global Health Competition being held in April of 2010.  During the summer of 2009, John was a research intern at the US Army Institute of Surgical Research at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, studying the immune and blood coagulation response of burn and trauma patients.  In the summers of 2007 and 2008, John studied abroad in Costa Rica and Spain, respectively.

Lynn Soby, vice president of the Office of Innovation and Commercialization, RTI International

Lynn Soby leads the Office of Innovation and Commercialization at RTI International.  She and her team are responsible for RTI’s innovation process, management of the technology and IP portfolio and commercialization of technology.  Previously, Soby was vice president of Operations in the Engineering Technology Unit.  She is a research and development specialist with extensive leadership and management experience in specialty chemical and consumer product industries. Soby was vice president for New Technology in the Global Research and Development Division of Avon Products, Inc., with responsibility for identification, discovery and development of leading-edge technologies. Previously, she worked for 10 years with The BFGoodrich Company—spending five years in the company's Advanced Technology Group. She was then given leadership of the Consumer Specialties Global R&D organization.  She led the commercial and development effort of new polymer technologies, and acquisitions that strengthened the company's business and technology portfolios. Soby has a PhD. in macromolecular science and engineering from Case Western Reserve University, a master's degree in chemistry from Ohio University and a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Boston College.

Jeffrey Wadsworth, president and chief executive officer, Battelle

Jeff Wadsworth is president and CEO of Battelle Memorial Institute, the world’s largest nonprofit R&D organization, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. He joined Battelle in 2002, serving as a member of the White House Transition Planning Office for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS); as director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and as head of Battelle’s Global Laboratory Operations, directing the management of laboratories for DHS, the U.S. Department of Energy, and other customers. Earlier, Jeff worked at Lockheed Missiles & Space Company and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He earned bachelor’s and doctoral degrees at Sheffield University in England and conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University. Jeff has published nearly 300 scientific papers and 1 book and holds 4 U.S. patents. He has received four honorary doctorates and is a Fellow of three technical societies. Jeff was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering in 2005.

Mark Wyatt, vice president, Smart Grid & Energy Systems, Duke Energy

Wyatt is vice president of Smart Grid & Energy Systems for Duke Energy and has more than 25 years of experience in the information management field. He joined the company in July 1980 as a programmer analyst. Throughout his career, he has been instrumental in establishing and managing information technology strategy, processes and mechanisms that allow the information technology function at Duke Energy to support both a regulated and non-regulated business model. After a series of promotions in the information technology area, he was named director of global asset development in 1998, where he established a service delivery process supporting both domestic and international information management business needs. He advanced to managing director of information management in January 2000, and was named vice president of information management for Duke Energy Generation Services in October 2001. He was named vice president of information management for Duke Energy North America in January 2003, and named vice president of information technology for Duke Power in November 2003. Wyatt was named to his current position in the Franchised Electric and Gas – Operations organization in April 2006. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native earned a bachelor of science degree in computer science from North Carolina State University.

Patrick Ye, Duke University 2010, Biomedical Engineering

Patrick Ye, a native of Westmont, Illinois, is a senior majoring in biomedical engineering. He is a member of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honors society. His research interest focuses on Parkinson’s disease and whether a linear relationship exists between the amount of hand tremor in patients and the interpulse intervals of the deep brain stimulation trains used for treatment. Should a relationship be found, an optimal stimulation strategy could be determined and used to maximize therapy. Currently, Patrick is creating a genetic algorithm to selectively stimulate the pudendal nerve to better restore urinary function. He was also the leader of a recent Engineers Without Borders project to design and built a much-needed bridge in rural Bolivia.