WHAT ARE the limits of today's science and technology, how did we
get here, and what lies ahead? The Research Laboratory of Electronics
(RLE) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) celebrates
the sixtieth anniversary of its 1946 founding by convening key leaders
in forefront research areas from around the world to present their
ideas about what the future holds. BEYOND THE LIMITS, a year long
colloquia series, explores the boundaries of our current understanding
of nature, and assesses the exciting opportunities to deepen that
understanding and to apply new discoveries to innovative technologies.
Like RLE itself, BEYOND THE LIMITS encompasses a diverse set of disciplines
and multiple viewpoints. Learn, discover and celebrate with us as
these distinguished speakers present their assessments of where we
areÑand their visions for where we are going.
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Friday, February 23, 2007
4pm • Room 32-123
See
Prof. Quake's talk on MITWorld |
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Prof.
Stephen Quake, Stanford University
http://thebigone.stanford.edu/
Biological Large Scale Integration
The integrated circuit revolution changed our lives by automating
computational tasks on a grand scale. My group has been asking
whether a similar revolution could be enabled by automating
biological tasks. To that end, we have developed a method of
fabricating very small plumbing devices Ð chips with small
channels and valves that manipulate fluids containing biological
molecules and cells, instead of the more familiar chips with
wires and transistors that manipulate electrons. Using this
technology, we have fabricated chips that have thousands of
valves in an area of one square inch. We are using these chips
in applications ranging from screening to structural genomics
to ultrasensitive genetic analysis. However, there is also
a substantial amount of basic physics to explore with these
systems Ð the
properties of fluids change dramatically as the working volume
is scaled from milliliters to nanoliters!
BIOGRAPHY:
Prof. Stephen R. Quake is Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford
University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.
He received a B.S. in physics and an M.S. in mathematics from
Stanford University, and a D.Phil. in physics from Oxford University
as a Marshall Scholar. Prof. Quake's interests lie at the nexus
of physics, biology and biotechnology, focusing on understanding
the basic physics and biological applications of microfluidic
technology. His achievements include developing new forms of
biological automation and applying these tools to problems
of biological and medical interest, including structural genomics,
systems biology, microbial ecology, and nanoliter-scale synthetic
chemistry. He pioneered the development of Microfluidic Large
Scale Integration (LSI), demonstrating the first integrated
microfluidic devices with thousands of mechanical valves. Prof.
Quake has also been active in the field of single molecule
biophysics where he has developed precision measurements techniques
on single molecules, including the first successful single
molecule DNA sequencing experiments. |
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Tuesday, March 13, 2007
4pm • Room 32-123 |
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Prof.
Sir John Pendry, Imperial College, London
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/people/j.pendry
The Perfect Lens: Resolution Beyond the Limits of Wavelength
The
lens is one of the most basic tools of optics but the resolution
achieved is limited, as if the wavelength of light defined
the width of a pencil used to draw the images. This limit intrudes
in all kinds of ways. For example it defines the storage capacity
of DVDs where the laser can only 'see' details of the order
of the wavelength.
Two type of light are associated with a
luminous object: the near field and the far field. True to
its name the far field escapes from the object and is easily
captured and manipulated by a lens, but high resolution details
are hidden in the near field and remain localised near the
source and cannot be captured by a conventional lens. To control
the near field we have developed a new class of materials with
properties not found in nature. These new materials derive
their properties not from the atomic and molecular constituents
of the solid, but from microstructure which can be designed
to give a wide range of novel electromagnetic properties.
The lecture will describe the new materials and the principles
behind them and show how they may be used to control and manipulate
the near field. Finally a prescription will be given for a
lens whose resolution is unlimited by wavelength provided that
the ideal prescription for the constituent materials is met.
BIOGRAPHY:
Prof. Sir John Pendry is recognized worldwide for his pioneering
work on the structure of surfaces and their interaction with
electrons and photons. He founded the field of metamaterials
with a negative refractive index. His work helped to pave
the way for perfect lenses and other devices that focus light
into a space smaller than its wavelength—beating the so-called "diffraction
limit." He has published over 200 scientific papers
on subjects such as surface plasmons and negative refractive
index materials. From 1975-1981 he worked at the Daresbury
Laboratory, Cheshire. In 1981, he was appointed professor
at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London,
where he was head of the department of physics and principal
of the faculty of physical sciences. He is an honorary fellow
of Downing College, Cambridge and an IEEE fellow. In 1984,
he was named a Fellow of the Royal Society as well as a Fellow
of the Institute of Physics. In 2004, he was knighted for
his services to science.
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Tuesday, April 24, 2007
4pm • Room 10-250 |
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Prof.
Stephen R. Forrest, University of Michigan
http://www.research.umich.edu/vpr/bio.html
Electronics on plastic: A solution
to the energy challenge, or a pipe dream?
For over 50 years, conjugated organic compounds have been
recognized as an important class of electronic semiconductor
materials, with potential application to light emission and
detection. Very recently, these materials have been shown
to generate extremely high efficient white light, and can also
have high detection efficiencies. Due to their very low cost
and low deposition temperatures, this suggests that organic
thin film semiconductor light emitting diodes and solar cells
may present a practical solution to mankind’s greatest
challenge: the use and generation of low cost renewable, and
largely pollution free energy. In this talk, I will address
both the reality and fantasy of this suggestion. While
organic thin film devices can have extremely high performance,
they also suffer from shorter operational lifetime than conventional
semiconductor (e.g. silicon) devices. And, although their
low cost has yet to be proven in large scale manufacturing
environments, the potentially unlimited promise of this materials
class is driving a substantial global research effort to determine
their ultimate applicability to meeting our energy challenges.
BIOGRAPHY:
Prof. Stephen R. Forrest is the Vice President for Research at
the University of Michigan, and holds concurrent appointments
as Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
as well as Professor of Physics. He has conducted pioneering
research on fundamental issues surrounding photonic materials,
devices, and systems, focusing on semiconductor optoelectronic
integrated devices and organic thin film optical devices. He
first investigated photodetectors for optical communications
at Bell Labs, and then joined the faculty at the University
of Southern California, continuing on to the faculty at Princeton
University. At Princeton, he served as Director of the National
Center for Integrated Photonic Technology, and of the Center
for Photonics and Optoelectronic Materials. Prof. Forrest also
was Chair of the Electrical Engineering Department at Princeton.
Prof. Forrest has authored 385 papers in refereed journals,
and has 135 patents. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and OSA, and
a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is co-founder
or founding participant in several companies, including Sensors
Unlimited, Epitaxx, Inc., Global Photonic Energy Corp., Universal
Display Corp., and Apogee Photonics, Inc. |
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Friday, September 29, 2006
4pm • Room 32-123
See
Dr. Malvar's talk on MITWorld |
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Dr.
Henrique S. Malvar, Microsoft
http://research.microsoft.com/~malvar/
"Recent Advances in Digital Processing of Images and
Audio"
ABSTRACT:
We present an overview of recent developments in audio and
visual signal processing at Microsoft Research. We briefly
discuss technologies such as enhancement of images from digital
cameras (raw demosaicing, interactive tone mapping, denoising),
generation and browsing of gigapixel images, recovery of
3-D environments from image sets, and audio denoising, bandwidth
extension, and enhancement with microphone arrays. We also
present live demos of some of these technologies.
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Henrique S. Malvar, an alumnus of the Research Laboratory
of Electronics, is a Distinguished Engineer and a Director
of Microsoft Research in Redmond, WA, where he oversees research
in several areas, including the groups Adaptive Systems and
Interaction, Communication and Collaboration Systems, Data
Management, Exploration and Mining, Databases, Interactive
Visual Media, Knowledge Tools, Machine Learning and Applied
Statistics, Natural Language Processing, Speech Technology,
and Text Mining, Search, and Navigation. Dr. Malvar received
a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from
MIT in 1986. Before coming to Microsoft, Dr. Malvar was Vice
President of Research and Advanced Technology at PictureTel
(later acquired by Polycom). Prior to that, he headed the
Digital Signal Processing Research Group at Universidade
de Bras’lia, Brazil. He was elected a Fellow of the
IEEE in 1997, and received the Technical Achievement Award
from the IEEE Signal Processing Society in 2002. He holds
over 40 patents and over 20 pending patent applications,
and has published over 120 articles in journals and conferences. |
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Friday, October 27, 2006
4pm • Room 32-123
See
Dr. DiVincenzo's talk on MITWorld |
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Dr.
David P. DiVincenzo, IBM
http://www.research.ibm.com/ss_computing/
"Quantum Computing: Origins and Directions"
ABSTRACT:
The idea of quantum computing looks natural and invitable today,
but at its emergence less than twenty-five years ago it looked
inspired and incredible. I will trace at least three independent
threads of thought that got the field launched, one of which
is tied up with the origins of the RLE. Once we had quantum
circuit rules, a notion of secure quantum-bit transmission,
and, above all, Shor's factoring algorithm, there was no
turning back. I will survey the plethora of activities that
are now underway to build a quantum computer, with particular
examples from IBM's current work to create a quantum-mechanical
world in low-temperature electric circuits.
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. David P. DiVincenzo received his Ph.D. (1983), M.S.E. (1980)
and B.S.E. (1979) from the University of Pennsylvania. Since
1985, he has been a Research Staff Member in the Physical
Sciences Department at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
in Yorktown Heights, NY. He has worked throughout his career
in various problems in condensed matter physics. Since 1993,
one of his main interests has been quantum computing; he
has important results in quantum information theory, and
in the physical realizations of quantum computers. In particular,
he is well known for proposing a set of five criteria (commonly
called DiVincenzo's checklist) for the physical implementation
of quantum computers. He is a Fellow of the American Physical
Society and the Editor-in-Chief of the Virtual Journal of
Quantum Information. |
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Friday, November 17, 2006
4pm • Room 34-101
See Dr. Moore's talk on MITWorld |
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Prof.
Brian C. J. Moore, University of Cambridge, England
http://hearing.psychol.cam.ac.uk/Biogs/bmpic.html
"Using Psychoacoustics to Explore Cochlear
Function: Basic Mechanisms and Applications to Hearing Aids"
ABSTRACT:
Over the last two decades there has been a dramatic increase
in understanding of cochlear physiology and of the distinct
roles of the inner and outer hair cells. In this lecture,
I will start by giving an overview of these roles in terms
of their influence on auditory perception. Hearing loss often
involves reduced functioning of the inner and outer hair
cells. I will describe the perceptual consequences
of this, including loss of frequency selectivity, loss of
suppression, loss of sensitivity to temporal fine structure,
and loudness recruitment, and I will present simulations
of some of these effects. Specific psychoacoustic tests
now exist for measuring cochlear compression and for diagnosing “dead
regions” in the cochlea. I will describe a variety
of applications of psychoacoustic tests and models to the
design and fitting of hearing aids, and will discuss possible
future developments.
BIOGRAPHY:
Professor Brian C. J. Moore received his B.A. in Natural Sciences
in 1968 and his Ph.D. in Psychoacoustics in 1971, both from
the University of Cambridge, England. He is currently Professor
of Auditory Perception in the University of Cambridge and
a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. His research interests
are: the perception of sound; mechanisms of normal hearing
and hearing impairments; relationship of auditory abilities
to speech perception; design of signal processing hearing
aids for sensorineural hearing loss; methods for fitting
hearing aids to the individual; design and specification
of high-fidelity sound-reproducing equipment. He is a Fellow
of the Academy of Medical Sciences, a Fellow of the Acoustical
Society of America, and an Honorary Fellow of the Belgian
Society of Audiology and the British Society of Hearing Aid
Audiologists. He is President of the Association of Independent
Hearing Healthcare Professionals (UK). He has written or
edited 11 books and over 400 scientific papers and book chapters. |
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Tuesday, December 19, 2006
4pm • Room 10-250 |
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Dr.
William D. Phillips, NIST
http://www.physics.umd.edu/people/faculty/phillips.html
"A Bose condensate in an optical lattice: cold atomic
gases confront solid state physics"
ABSTRACT:
An atomic-gas Bose-Einstein Condensate, placed in the periodic
light-shift potential of an optical standing wave, exhibits
many features that are similar to the familiar problem of electrons
moving in the periodic potential of a solid-state crystal lattice.
Among the differences are that the BEC represents a wavefunction
whose coherence extends over the entire lattice, with what
is essentially a single quasi momentum and that the lattice
potential can be turned on and off, modulated, or accelerated
through space. Experiments that are not easily done with solids
are often straightforward with optical lattices, sometimes
with surprising results.
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. William D. Phillips, an alumnus of the Research Laboratory
of Electronics, conducted seminal experiments using laser
light to cool and trap atoms that earned him the Nobel Prize
for Physics in 1997. He shared the award with Drs. Steven
Chu and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, who also developed methods
of laser cooling and atom trapping. Dr. Phillips received
his doctorate in physics in 1976, and completed his postdoctoral
research in RLE. In 1978 he joined the staff of the National
Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards
and Technology) in Gaithersburg, Md., and it was there that
he conducted his award-winning investigations. Dr. Phillips
developed new and improved methods for measuring the temperature
of laser-cooled atoms. In 1988, he discovered that the atoms
reached a temperature six times lower than the predicted
theoretical limit. One result of the development of laser-cooling
techniques were the first observations in RLE and elsewhere,
in 1995, of the Bose-Einstein condensate, a new state of
matter originally predicted seventy years earlier by Albert
Einstein and the Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose. |
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