Now in its 40th year, the SIGGRAPH conference is the premier international event on computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH 2013 is expected to draw more than 20,000 professionals from five continents to Anaheim, California.

Who
The SIGGRAPH conference attracts the most respected technical and creative people from all over planet Earth. The SIGGRAPH community includes people everywhere who are excited by research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education, and the web. SIGGRAPH 2013 is sponsored by The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), an educational and scientific society uniting the world’s computing educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges.

What
The SIGGRAPH conference and exhibition is a five-day interdisciplinary educational experience including a three-day commercial exhibition that attracts hundreds of exhibitors from around the world. SIGGRAPH is widely recognized as the most prestigious forum for the publication of computer graphics research. In addition to SIGGRAPH’s leading-edge technical program, the conference’s installations provide close-up views of the latest in digital art, emerging technologies, and hands-on opportunities for creative collaboration. The conference also hosts the international SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival, showcasing works from the world’s most innovative and accomplished digital film and video creators. Juried and curated content includes outstanding achievements in time-based art, scientific visualization, visual effects, real-time graphics, and narrative shorts. Since 1999, the festival has been an official qualifying event for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Animated Short Film award.

The SIGGRAPH 2013 Advance Program is now available to view and to download. Get detailed information on what is happening and who is speaking at SIGGRAPH 2013 so you can plan ahead. The Advance Program is your best planning resource for five days of learning, exploring, and amazing interaction with tomorrow’s technologies, today.

This is one of the most important gatherings of press and analysts from around the world ‘Inspired by 40 years of Ethernet Innovation’ and looking for-ward to the next 40 years of networking. Meet key press and analysts in a series of scheduled sessions to discuss the latest hot topics concerning Ethernet innovation, enterprise networking, cloud computing, virtualisation and telecoms, paving the way for increasing your visibility across the globe.

We are flying in 50+ press representing more than 30 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, South America, Central America and North America, providing your organization with the opportunity to reach an audience of over 2 million CIO’s, MIS Managers/Directors, IT Professionals & Service Providers throughout the world.

Conference topics include:

• Ethernet war stories and the inventors of Ethernet
• Ethernet or Ethernot?
• Future Network Architectures
• Carrier Ethernet and the Cloud
• SDN is not the future – its now!
• Cloud Services
• Datacenter solutions shoot-out
• Breakthroughs in wireless technologies
• Cybercrime security challenges
• Advances in WAN infrastructure technologies
• Government, Academia & Industry in fruitful partnership to drive innovation

The CeDEM represents a continuation and development of the E-democracy conference initiated in 2007. The Centre for E-Governance at the Danube University Krems has been organising conferences on e-democracy and public administration since 2007. The CeDEM was first presented in 2011, and in the meantime also boasts a spin-off in Asia, held for the first time in November 2012.

We have lots of wonderful presentations, workshops, reflections, networking opportunities, a fab social dinner on 22. May……
…. and we proudly present the following keynotes:

- John Carlo Bertot from the University of Maryland
- Karine Nahon from the University of Washington
- Beth Noveck from New York University and MIT, and former United States Deputy Chief Technology Officer.
- Tiago Peixoto from the World Bank, Washington

K. Eric Drexler is the founding father of nanotechnology—the science of engineering on a molecular level. In Radical Abundance, he shows how rapid scientific progress is about to change our world. Thanks to atomically precise manufacturing, we will soon have the power to produce radically more of what people want, and at a lower cost. The result will shake the very foundations of our economy and environment.

Already, scientists have constructed prototypes for circuit boards built of millions of precisely arranged atoms. The advent of this kind of atomic precision promises to change the way we make things—cleanly, inexpensively, and on a global scale. It allows us to imagine a world where solar arrays cost no more than cardboard and aluminum foil, and laptops cost about the same.

A provocative tour of cutting edge science and its implications by the field’s founder and master, Radical Abundance offers a mind-expanding vision of a world hurtling toward an unexpected future.

K. Eric Drexler is the founding father of nanotechnology—the science of engineering on a molecular level. In Radical Abundance, he shows how rapid scientific progress is about to change our world. Thanks to atomically precise manufacturing, we will soon have the power to produce radically more of what people want, and at a lower cost. The result will shake the very foundations of our economy and environment.

Already, scientists have constructed prototypes for circuit boards built of millions of precisely arranged atoms. The advent of this kind of atomic precision promises to change the way we make things—cleanly, inexpensively, and on a global scale. It allows us to imagine a world where solar arrays cost no more than cardboard and aluminum foil, and laptops cost about the same.

A provocative tour of cutting edge science and its implications by the field’s founder and master, Radical Abundance offers a mind-expanding vision of a world hurtling toward an unexpected future.

The next Wearable Technologies Conference is coming up on July 22 and 23 in San Francisco. Be part of the original and join our 2 day event at Fort Mason Center.

Day 1
Registration will start at 1 PM
Conference will start at 2 PM

Day 2
Registration will start at 8 AM
Conference will start at 9 AM

To register use the Register now button on the right. If you have any questions, please contact us at info(at)wearable-technologies.com

Since 2006 WTconferences are the leading showcases of cutting-edge innovation and focus on decision makers, experts and developers from commerce, production and research, in particular from the fields of Health, Wellness, Active Life, Lifestyle Computing, Communication, Security/Safety, and Fashion. These unique events aim at encouraging a dialogue between the respective industries to bring forward new solutions and applications for a rapidly growing target group. Delegates experience the most comprehensive line-up of technology innovation, discuss the latest trends, meet new start-ups in this arena as well as leading thinkers.

What will it take to get humans to Mars? That’s the question on tap for hundreds of scientists, entrepreneurs, astronauts and government officials descending on Washington, D.C. this week for a summit on manned travel to the Red Planet.

Speakers at the second annual “Humans 2 Mars Summit,” running May 6-8 at George Washington University, include NASA chief Charles Bolden, Apollo moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, and space tourist Dennis Tito, who recently announced his own plan to send a married couple on a round-trip Mars flyby mission in 2015.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Space Policy Institute at George Washington and the non-profit Explore Mars organization, which aims to advance the goal of sending people to the Red Planet within the next two decades. Panels at the meeting this week will examine the challenges — scientific, technological, and political — of manned Mars exploration. Among the topics to be discussed are Mars agriculture and food production, propulsion and landing technologies, and spacesuit design and life support systems.

“Our goal for the summit is to not only address the challenges of humans going to Mars but also to propose real solutions,” Explore Mars executive director Chris Carberry said in a statement. “With the collaboration of experts in the space and science communities and non-traditional players, we will come out of the summit enlightened, encouraged and ready to plan for a human mission to Mars by 2030.”

NASA has said it aims to send astronauts to Mars by the mid 2030s. The space agency is building a giant heavy-lift rocket called the Space Launch System and a new crew capsule called Orion to take people beyond low-Earth orbit.

Private companies and non-profits are also aiming for Mars.

In addition to Tito’s Inspiration Mars mission, the Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One foundation recently announced that it is seeking astronauts for one-way Mars missions to establish a colony on the Red Planet starting in 2023. Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp will speak at the conference as well.

Registration for the conference is open to the public, and the event will be broadcast live online. You can watch the manned Mars mission webcasts on SPACE.com beginning at 9 a.m. ET (1300 GMT), courtesy of the summit’s webcast.

You can also follow the webcasts directly here: http://h2m.exploremars.org/webcast/. Visit SPACE.com this week for complete coverage from the Humans 2 Mars Summit in Washington.

K. Eric Drexler is the founding father of nanotechnology—the science of engineering on a molecular level. In Radical Abundance, he shows how rapid scientific progress is about to change our world. Thanks to atomically precise manufacturing, we will soon have the power to produce radically more of what people want, and at a lower cost. The result will shake the very foundations of our economy and environment.

Already, scientists have constructed prototypes for circuit boards built of millions of precisely arranged atoms. The advent of this kind of atomic precision promises to change the way we make things—cleanly, inexpensively, and on a global scale. It allows us to imagine a world where solar arrays cost no more than cardboard and aluminum foil, and laptops cost about the same.

A provocative tour of cutting edge science and its implications by the field’s founder and master, Radical Abundance offers a mind-expanding vision of a world hurtling toward an unexpected future.

One of the most exciting developments in 2012 was the creation and development of our Under 20 Community, which is made up of young visionaries. The spirit of young entrepreneurship has been expanded through the establishment of the Under 20 Summit, a twice-yearly weekend-long retreat that brings together Thiel applicants, mentors, and other young people who are excited about making a difference and are passionate about building a community of likeminded peers. The Under 20 Summits allow many talented young people to connect to the knowledge and resources they need (like peer collaboration, mentorship, sessions on many subject areas, and much needed community) and to take their ideas to the next level.

The last summit, in New York City, drew more than 250 attendees from around the world. The next summit will take place in San Francisco on June 1 and 2. Attendance is by invitation only; to learn more or request an invitation visit: https://www.atendy.com/event/under-20-summit-san-francisco-66337973.

The mission is abundantly clear – to create a space for young visionaries to collaborate, learn from, and inspire each other. The summits are participatory events with keynotes, breakout sessions (largely led by summiters), and office hours with mentors on both Saturday and Sunday. Sign up here to apply to lead a 60 minute breakout session.

If you are interested in the summit, but not already a member of the Under 20 Community, you can apply to join by filling out this form or by contacting narnett@thielfoundation.org for more information.

GTC’s CNS Diseases World Summit 2013 brings together the leading experts across the industry and academia to discuss the latest research and developments in the CNS field. The summit has two parallel tracks that focus on neurodegenerative conditions and CNS partnering and deal-making.

Join your colleagues at this exciting meeting on September 9-10, 2013 in Boston, MA and hear from key representatives to discuss the current state of neuroscience drug discovery and build partnerships that will move the field forward.

Tickets $18 General, $14 Students / Purchase in advance at incubatorarts.org , or call TheaterMania at 212-352-3101.

Incubator Arts Project inside St. Mark’s Church • 131 East 10th Street, at Second Avenue L to First or Third Avenue; R, W to Broadway/8th Street; 6 to Astor Place; N, Q, 4, 5 to Union Square

Join us on May 10th and 11th immediately following the show, as the team of Love Machine hosts a special talk back featuring the social robot Bina48 and Bruce Duncan from the Terasem Movement Foundation. / Suggested donation at the door

Is this the century we begin to build starships?
Why go to the Stars?
Can we?
Should We?

Starship Century is a symposium coordinated by the new Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination in collaboration with Gregory and James Benford, presenting ideas from their anthology of science and science fiction.

Gregory Benford: Gregory Benford is a professor of physics at the University of California, Irvine, working in astrophysics and plasma physics. A Fellow of the American Physical Society, his fiction has won many awards, including the Nebula Award for his novel Timescape.

James Benford: James Benford is President of Microwave Sciences, which deals with high power microwave systems from conceptual designs to hardware. Over the past 45 years of scientific research he has written 145 scientific papers and 6 books on physics topics, including the textbook, High Power Microwaves, now in its 2nd edition. His current scientific interest is electromagnetic power beaming for space propulsion. In earlier decades, he was active in science fiction fandom, and wrote science fiction in the 1970′s.

In coordination with the publication of the book Starship Century, edited by Greg and Jim Benford, the ideas of a 100 year program to create a starship are explored – from the development of an interplanetary economic infrastructure, to the structural requirements, the human factors and speculations on what we might find.  Speakers include some of the worlds leading scientists, technologists and science fiction authors, including: Peter Diamandis, Freeman Dyson, Joe Haldeman, Jill Tarter, David Brin, Neal Stephenson and others…

• Scientists address the challenges and opportunities for our long‐term future in space, with possibilities envisioned by: Freeman Dyson, Paul Davies, Peter Schwartz, John Cramer and Robert Zubrin.
• Science fiction authors Neal Stephenson, Allen Steele, Joe Haldeman, Gregory Benford, Geoffrey Landis and David Brin discuss the implications that these trajectories of exploration might have upon our development as individuals and as a civilization.

The annual conference is a rare gathering of a large number of ICA members in the same location. But given the number of attendees and how they scatter in so many different sessions, it is important to make sure that the conference is punctuated by opportunities for all participants to share a moment together.

This year’s conference will, once again, provide many such opportunities. There will be the traditional opening reception on Monday night, Cynthia Stohl’s Presidential Address right after the ICA Annual Awards on Wednesday afternoon, and the interactive paper/poster session on Thursday afternoon. And there will be a number of thematic plenary and miniplenary sessions.

The opening plenary session will take place on Monday evening. The theme will be “Born Challenging: The Mark of Cultural Studies on Communication Research” featuring Dick Hebdige (U of California – Santa Barbara), David Morley (U of London, Goldsmiths), and Jackie Stacey (U of Manchester) and chaired by Liesbet Van Zoonen (Loughborough U). Cultural Studies have developed by challenging the existing ways of conceiving, conducting, and reporting research. To challenge is often to meet scepticism or even resistance. To challenge is always to prompt debate and foster creativity. Cultural Studies have grown into a body of research that sheds new light on objects typically investigated in media and communication science. This panel featuring prominent figures of contemporary Cultural Studies will discuss the mark of cultural studies in communication research.

A second plenary, scheduled Tuesday at noon, is on “The Network Tradition in Communication Research and Scholarship” featuring Noshir Contractor (Northwestern U), Elihu Katz (Annenberg Penn & Hebrew U), Ronald E. Rice (U of California – Santa Barbara), and Richard A. Rogers (U of Amsterdam) and chaired by Leah A. Lievrouw (U of California – Los Angeles, ICA 2013 Theme Chair). The proliferation of new media and information technologies over the last 30 years has captured the interest and imagination of communication scholars across the discipline, helping to move the concept of “network” to the forefront of theorizing and empirical study in diverse corners of the field. This session considers the long-term intellectual influence of network thought, theory, and methods in the communication discipline.

On Wednesday, at 12:30, delegates will have to choose among three miniplenaries. Two of these are ICA Fellows Panels featuring ICA Fellows Sandra L. Calvert (Georgetown U) , John Hartley (Curtlin U) and Steven Jones (U of Illinois, Chicago) for the first panel; Don Ellis (U of Hartford), Janet Fulk (U of Southern California) and Dennis K. Mumby (U of North Carolina) for the second panel.

A third miniplenary will be dedicated to “Challenges in Media and Communication Regulation”, featuring Colette Bowe (Chair of OFCOM), Sascha Meinrath (New America Foundation), Rod Tiffen (U of Sydney) and chaired by Peter Lunt(U of Leicester). The pace of evolution of media and communication technologies and its uses outruns that of legislation and regulatory mechanisms. Freedom of expression and free flows of communication collide with privacy, intellectual property, and accountability. This panel will discuss the challenges of media and communication regulation in the face of a fast-changing communication ecosystem.

Finally, the longest conference in ICA’s history will end on a closing plenary themed “The Bridge and the Barrier: The Challenges of Language Use in Communication Research” featuring Dafna Lemish (Southern Illinois U, Chair of ICA’s Internationalization Task Force), Toby Miller (City U, London), and Michael Oustinoff (U of Paris 3 and Institut des Sciences de la Communication du CNRS – ISCC) and chaired by myself. The hegemony of English in international research and publication is perceived by many as a barrier excluding scholars from many regions of the world. In spite of a consensus on the need for action to overcome the language barrier, initiatives seem to have very limited results. This panel will explore innovative ways to understand the causes and implications of these issues and to initiate new dynamics in internationalizing communication research in a way that benefits scholars and scholarship on both sides of the language barrier.

We are looking forward to seeing many of you at these exciting sessions that will, like the rest of the program, make this year’s conference unique and, we hope, unforgettable.

Special Workshop: Graphene/Carbon nanotubes: properties, manufacturing techniques, and applications

Time: October 21, 2013

Venue: Crowne Plaza, San Diego

Workshop leaders:
Prof. Yu Zhu, The University of Akron
Prof. Fengge Gao, Nottingham Trent University

Workshop topics:

• Graphene – the basic building blocks for new carbons
  (The relationship between graphene and other carbon materials and historic evolution of carbon materials)
• Graphene derived micro/nano species suitable for composite application
  (Graphene, graphene oxide, graphite interacted compounds, expanded graphite)
• Graphene synthesis: various graphene synthesis techniques (including CVD, wet-chemistry etc.) will be discussed and reviewed in this section.
• Graphene characterization: an introduction of characterization of graphene and graphene derivatives.
• New properties from graphene.
• A perspective of applications of graphene and its derived species

The workshop is free to all attendees of the conference “Nanomaterials for Industry“

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The conference is designed for business executives, engineers, and scientists to gain essential and wide-ranging knowledge about the science, technology, and applications of nanomaterials.

The three-day Congress includes:

• Special Workshop: Graphene/Carbon nanotubes: properties, manufacturing techniques, and applications.
• A series of comprehensive lectures by international leaders from industry, academia, and national laboratories. The presentations will review the state-of-the art in the rapidly expanding science and technology of nanomaterials.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Workshop leaders:
Prof. Yu Zhu, The University of Akron
Prof. Fengge Gao, Nottingham Trent University

Workshop topics

• Graphene – the basic building blocks for new carbons
  (The relationship between graphene and other carbon materials and historic evolution of carbon materials)
• Graphene derived micro/nano species suitable for composite application
  (Graphene, graphene oxide, graphite interacted compounds, expanded graphite)
• Graphene synthesis: various graphene synthesis techniques (including CVD, wet-chemistry etc.) will be discussed and reviewed in this section.
• Graphene characterization: an introduction of characterization of graphene and graphene derivatives.
• New properties from graphene.
• A perspective of applications of graphene and its derived species

CONFERENCE TOPICS
Session I. Nanomaterials for energy applications
Session II. Manufacturing and characterization of Nanomaterials
Session III. Nanomaterials for defense, aerospace, and consumer products
Session IV. Open innovation in Nanomaterials
Session V. Biotechnology, nanomedicine, environment, and health aspects of nanomaterials

KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Nobel Laureate Sir Harold Kroto (1996 Chemistry) will deliver the Keynote Address on Monday morning, October 21, 2013.

Sir Harold Kroto has a long and distinguished career in chemistry. Today he is a professor at Florida State University where he carries out research in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

The previous two Conferences on Nanotek which were held at Omaha, USA and Philadelphia, USA brings together large and medium pharmaceutical, health care, food technology, biotech & diagnostic companies, few of the research institutes to most of the leading universities making it largest and most successful international congregation ever assembled by OMICS Group. As part of a collaborative effort, Journal of Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology and Journal of Nanomedicine and Biotherapeutic Discovery published all papers presented at this meeting as a special issue. Nanotek-2012 made a perfect platform to foster collaborations across industry & academia and evaluate emerging technology across the globe.

3^rd International Conference on Nanotek and Expo provides a perfect symposium for scientists, engineers, directors of companies and students in the field of Nanotechnology to meet and share their knowledge. The scientific program paves a way to gather visionaries through the research talks and presentations and put forward many thought provoking strategies.

Conference Highlights:

• Nanomaterials
• Nanostructures
• Nanomedicine
• Nanotechnology in Food and Agriculture
• Nanodevices and Nanosensors
• Nanoelectronics
• Nanotechnology in Energy Systems
• Environment, Health and Safety Issues of Nanotechnology
• Recent Trends in Nanotechnology
• Applications of Nanotechnology

The 2013 M2M & Internet of Things Global Summit will take place in Washington DC on October 1-2, and will provide a high-level meeting point for all representatives from the global M2M & IoT communities.

With contributions from all of the main stakeholders at both an industry and policy level from the US and beyond, this conference will take a comprehensive look at the latest technologies and innovations in the field of The Internet of Things.

Technology and its role in society is evolving dramatically. Smarter technologies are opening up new horizons in the fight against many of the world’s most pressing challenges. From boosting economic growth to tackling climate change and improving public health; to making businesses more productive and profitable, and improving consumer experience.The Internet of Things creates new possibilities and has the potential to enable a plethora of new responses to such challenges.

This event will offer participants the chance to exchange views on the current IoT ecosystem and the opportunity to see what M2M and IoT technologies are available to industry, businesses and end users.
Speakers and delegates will explore how both the public and private sectors need to work together to create an environment for increased innovation, investment and economic growth, as well as the emerging key issues that are affecting the sector, including user data protection and security for devices, as well as the additional resources that are required for a fully integrated Internet of Things.

Sessions at the event will include: – Realizing the benefits of M2M, Smart Cities and The Internet of Things – Building trust and confidence – Enabling Device Security – Financing the Internet of Things – IoT Devices in the 4G era – Spectrum Management and IoT – Governance and Standardization – The role of Cloud Computing  and other ‘Big Data’ technologies for IoT – The Connected Home

But where does our creativity come from? Necessity or daydreams? Ambition or laziness? Purpose or play? Natural genius or rigorous process? All of the above … or some other, nameless place? Can it be taught or amplified? How is the creative instinct expressed differently in business, the sciences, society and the arts? What can these learn from each other? What does science reveal about the inventive mind? How do new platforms of connection and collaboration change the process of innovation? What new imperatives do they create? And how do we meet a world of fierce challenges with a spirit of creative possibility?

October 24-26, 2013, PopTech will convene a group of imaginative visionaries from many different fields for a joyful, jaw-dropping, urgent, anti-disciplinary exploration of creativity in the 21st century.

All PopTech gatherings feature bold and visionary presentations from some of our world’s most compelling innovators, interwoven with extraordinary live performances and other one-of-a-kind surprises. Our tone is at once intimate and expansive, designed to foster deep relationships and the space and time to think, reflect, connect and collaborate.

At “Sparks of Brilliance,” you will meet thinkers, leaders and doers engaged at the forefront of creativity and innovation. You will be able to share your work with an engaged and influential community; you’ll take home powerful, actionable insights; and you will meet some fantastic potential partners, allies and friends.

The 2013 Congress will be composed of research presentations, keynote lectures, invited presentations, tutorials, panel discussions, and poster presentations. In recent past, keynote/tutorial/panel speakers have included: Prof. David A. Patterson (pioneer, architecture, U. of California, Berkeley), Dr. K. Eric Drexler (known as Father of Nanotechnology), Prof. John H. Holland (known as Father of Genetic Algorithms; U. of Michigan), Prof. Ian Foster (known as Father of Grid Computing; U. of Chicago & ANL), Prof. Ruzena Bajcsy (pioneer, VR, U. of California, Berkeley), Prof. Barry Vercoe (Founding member of MIT Media Lab, MIT), Dr. Jim Gettys (known as X-man, developer of X Window System, xhost; OLPC), Prof. John Koza (known as Father of Genetic Programming, Stanford U.), Prof. Brian D. Athey (NIH Program Director, U. of Michigan), Prof. Viktor K. Prasanna (pioneer, U. of Southern California), Dr. Jose L. Munoz (NSF Program Director and Consultant), Prof. Jun Liu (pioneer, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard U.), Prof. Lotfi A. Zadeh (Father of Fuzzy Logic), Dr. Firouz Naderi (Head, NASA Mars Exploration Program/2000-2005 and Associate Director, Project Formulation & Strategy, Jet Propulsion Lab, CalTech/NASA; Director, NASA’s JPL Solar System Exploration), Prof. David Lorge Parnas (Fellow of IEEE, ACM, RSC, CAE, GI; Dr.h.c.: ETH Zurich, Prof. Emeritus, McMaster U. and U. of Limerick), Prof. Eugene H. Spafford (Executive Director, CERIAS and Professor, Purdue University), Dr. Sandeep Chatterjee (Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, SourceTrace Systems, Inc.), Prof. Haym Hirsh (Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA and former director of Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, National Science Foundation, USA), Dr. Flavio Villanustre (Vice- President, HPCC Systems), and many other distinguished speakers. To get a feeling about the Congress’s atmosphere, see delegates photos from past events available at: http://infinitydempsey.smugmug.com/WorldComp

An important mission of the Congress is “Providing a unique platform for a diverse community of constituents composed of scholars, researchers, developers, educators, and practitioners. The Congress makes concerted effort to reach out to participants affiliated with diverse entities (such as: universities, institutions, corporations, government agencies, and research centers/labs) from all over the world. The Congress also attempts to connect participants from institutions that have teaching as their main mission with those who are affiliated with institutions that have research as their main mission. The Congress uses a quota system to achieve its institution and geography diversity objectives.”

One main goal of the Congress is to assemble a spectrum of affiliated research conferences, workshops, and symposiums into a coordinated research meeting held in a common place at a common time. This model facilitates communication among researchers in different fields of computer science, computer engineering, and applied computing. The Congress also encourages multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research initiatives; ie, facilitating increased opportunities for cross-fertilization across sub-disciplines.

The 3D printing revolution has arrived and Inside 3D Printing is the first business to business conference and expo to delve into the present and future impact of 3D printing. Join us on April 22-23 in New York City, and immerse yourself in two full days of tutorials and seminars that will give you a blueprint for how to invest and utilize 3D printing in coming years. And, you will not want to miss the exhibition hall packed with the latest 3D printers and services. Be a part of this cutting-edge event!

Featured Keynote Speakers:

Avi Reichental, President & CEO of 3D Systems, will discuss the power and potential of 3D printing as a local, sustainable alternative to manufacture our future. This keynote will take place on April 22.

Terry Wohlers, Principal Consultant and President of Wohlers Associates, Inc., has been named one of the most influential individuals in rapid product development and additive manufacturing.

Peter Weijmarshausen is the CEO & Co-Founder of Shapeways, the leading online marketplace and community for personalized production.

Who Should Attend?:

Architects, Artists, Arts/Jewelry, Business Developers, Business Owners, Engineers, Consultants, Culinary Professionals, Developers, Entrepreneurs, Fashion Designers, Industrial Designers, Lawyers, Makers, Marketers, Medical Professionals, Project Managers, Researchers, Software Developers, Venture Capitalists, Etc.

Key Topic Coverage:

Art & Architecture, Firearms, Culinary Uses, Remote Manufacturing, Greener Living, Fashion, Policy Issues, Trademark & Copyright, Etc.

The next FutureMed will take place at the beautiful Hotel Del Coronado Hotel in San Diego California on November 3 – 6, 2013.

FutureMed at Singularity University is a one-of-a-kind program that focuses on disruptive, game-changing exponential technologies that will revolutionize the practice of medicine and radically transform healthcare and the biomedical industry in the decade ahead.

After three very successful, oversubscribed FutureMed programs held at NASA in Silicon Valley, we are excited to introduce a new FutureMed program:

• We have expanded the capacity of the event to broaden the base of forward thinking innovators in the areas of health and medicine. We anticipate meeting 400 participants at the historic Hotel del Coronado in November.
• FutureMed at the Del will be in a new 3 ½ day format designed to fit into busy professionals’ schedules.
• With a condensed format we’re now able to offer the event at $4500

Attend FutureMed and become part of the future of medicine and health. Apply now, as space is limited and the previous FutureMeds sold out.

As always, the event will include a series of world class faculty, panels, hands-on experiences, demos, and in-depth discussions. Participants will complete this intensive program with new relationships, business concepts, insights, and opportunities for collaborations that can transform their practice or company.

About FutureMed:

How will rapidly developing technologies such as low-cost genomic sequencing and proteomics, artificial intelligence, telemedicine, robotics, 24/7 body wearable monitors, quantified self, stem cells, synthetic biology, gene therapy, and crowd sourced health data affect the future of health  and medicine? Click here to see a short video about FutureMed.

FutureMed is the first program of its kind; a multidisciplinary, immersive and hands-on experience uniquely designed for healthcare professionals and is part of Singularity University, whose mission is to educate, inspire and enable current and future leaders to leverage fast moving technologies to address global challenges.

FutureMed educates and prepares physicians, senior healthcare executives, innovators, entrepreneurs and investors to understand and recognize the opportunities and disruptive influences of rapidly developing and convergent technologies. These game-changing technologies and innovations will have profound implications for medicine, healthcare, and the biomedical industry in the decade ahead.

Futurist Marcel Bullinga  (NL) is a renowned futurist and international speaker. He is a member of US Techcast, UK Shaping Tomorrow, US World Future Society, UN Singularity Hub and NL Trendrede (Dutch trendwatchers). He is author of Welcome to the Future Cloud – 2025 in 100 Predictions. Check out the predictions on www.futurecheck.com or follow @futurecheck

Mind Reader Jamie Raven  (UK) is none of the above. He is funny though. And has spent the last decade entertaining celebrities, royalty and Blue Chip companies across the world, telling them exactly what they were thinking

The future is not about asking the right questions. It’s about knowing the answers before the questions arise. What if it is impossible to lie in the future? What skills do you need to make your business future proof? An possibly the thoughest question of them all: Are you future proof?

In the future, we believe that doing business, decision making and learning will become a game. The show is an illustration of that trend, and a brand new category in itself. It is the first ever talk on the future featuring live demonstrations of predictions coming true, using choices made by the audience members present. It is all about making educated guesses and using your intuition to make the right decisions.

A show with trends, psychology & humour. To get an impression of their current presentations, see Jamie’s sample video and Marcel’s sample video.

Are you a 5th-12th grade student who wants to learn about building stuff with computers and electronics than they teach you in school? Then it’s time to start teaching yourself!

Hack the Future is an all-day party / hackathon to show you what it’s like to be a hacker and see if it’s for you. We won’t tell you what to do. You’ll be free to work on whatever you want. We’ll try to keep you from getting stuck, and we’ll give you a place to start (if you want one). This is a unique opportunity to learn the state of the art in software and hardware design and engineering from mentors in Bay Area startups and companies like Facebook and Microsoft.
Parents, don’t reserve a ticket for yourself. We encourage you to let your children learn on their own!

We’ll be serving snacks and beverages throughout the day, and we’ll also serve lunch. Every young hacker gets a one-of-a-kind Hack the Future t-shirt with the awesome art shown, screen printed beautifully just for this event. Please remember that all young hackers should bring a laptop! Don’t leave home without one.

The event is set to deliver expert industry leaders and showcase the latest in solar technologies.

With over 1700 delegates in 2012, this free event is set to attract more than 2000 local and international industry professionals in 2013.

The Solar Conference & Expo will provide a unique platform to forge new opportunities, build relationships, and establish new partnerships in research, development, manufacturing and distribution for solar energy across the world’s solar powerhouse region.

Why visit the Solar Conference & Expo?

-Evaluate competing future energy solutions across every product category
-Discover new, more cost-effective solutions to existing processes
-Test drive the latest products and experience live demonstrations
-Book in face-to-face appointments with key suppliers
-Connect with new suppliers, customers and business partners in the renewable energy and environment industry
-Network with your peers from across the country and around the world
-Get expert advice on the specific challenges faced by your business
-Stay up-to-date with emerging or changing trends
-Listen to insightful keynotes from thought-leaders and innovators
-Upgrade your skills, knowledge and on-the-job effectiveness
-Gain new ideas and insights to grow your business
-Celebrate outstanding achievements within your industry
-Engage with your industry community locally and globally

The Solar 2013 Conference will provide the latest up to date information on the solar, renewable energy and energy efficiency industries.

The Conference will host a continuous stream of presentations from industry experts, covering diverse topics from current policy and market analysis, to financing of industry projects and industry case studies and best practice.

In addition, we are working with the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) to deliver a retailer and solar installer/designer program and forum. This session is eligible for Continuous Professional Development points towards renewal of your solar accreditation.

Don’t miss this important industry program – join in and share your thoughts at the open forums, discuss current industry concerns and issues, and address the future outlook for the solar industry.

The Solar 2013 Exhibition will showcase several hundred products and components, suppliers, distributors, advisory groups, agencies and non-government organisations in addition to Fortune 500 companies involved in solar energy production.

It combines a stimulating conference program with presentations by regional experts in their fields with a two-day trade expo featuring the latest innovation and products.

More reasons to Exhibit:

-Position your company as an investor in sustainable energy solutions
-Take advantage of our value stand packages, tailored to your needs and budget
-Our ‘Map Your Show’ tool will direct you to the right people before and after the event
-Gain access to global leaders, policy and decision makers
-Join our online community websites to extend business, networking and learning opportunities beyond the event floor
-Exhibitor training workshops and webinars to maximise your return on investment
-Exclusive sponsorship opportunities to widen your market exposure, reach over 2,000 visitors attending Solar 2013
-Profile your technologies and projects and meet global partners
-Align your brand to a high profile regional event marketing campaign
-Benefits from global media coverage

Scheduled speakers include: Dick Kitney, Georgina Mace, Kent Redford, Karen Esler, Rob Carlson, Sofia Alendra Valenzuela Aguila, Jay Keasling, Mildred Cho, Oliver Morton, Bertina Ceccarelli, Stewart Brand, and many others.

Session 1. What is synthetic biology and what does it have to do with conservation?
Objective: To introduce the subject of synthetic biology and provide several examples of products that are being proposed that have the potential to substantially change the contexts in which conservation works

Session 2. What is biodiversity and how might it be affected by synthetic biology?
Objective: To introduce the science of biodiversity – genes, species, and ecosystems – and ways that its conservation may be affected by synthetic biology

Session 3. The practice of conservation and how it might be affected by synthetic biology
Objective: To explain the methods and concerns of conservation to date, and assess how synthetic biology may affect key conservation strategies

Session 4. Implications of synthetic biology for wider social and economic change relevant to future conservation
Objective: To explore the implications of the secondary impacts of synthetic biology on conservation via its effects on society and global economy

Session 5. What aspects of synthetic biology should conservationists worry about and/or be excited about? And what areas of conservation should synthetic biology worry about and/or be excited about?
Objective: To air the areas of agreement and difference over the implications of synthetic biology for conservation and biodiversity loss, why conservationists and synthetic biologists should talk, and how they should do it

Session 6. The public landscape of synthetic biology and conservation – how can we move forward?
Objective: To place what we have been discussing in the context of the publics’ understanding of the relationship between synthetic biology and conservation and how to best carry forward the discussion

Session 7. The long view
Objective: To provide a vision of the future of synthetic biology and conservation from a long-term professional. He will summarize his thoughts on synthetic biology and talk about the project on which he is working to reintroduce Passenger Pigeons to the United States

Session 8. Reflections and actions
Objective: To provide a closing set of remarks reflecting on the meeting

Icarus Interstellar is pleased to announce our first public international conference, titled “Starship Congress”. Starship Congress will be held at the Anatole Hilton in Dallas, Texas August 15-18, 2013. We would like to invite you to attend this exciting event where you’ll get to hear some of the world’s experts on travel to the stars speak.

We are offering 25 tickets to this event at a 25% discount, and we would like to include you in this special offer.

The goal of Starship Congress 2013 is to bring the interstellar community together to foster discussion and generate tangible action. Our ambition is to move humanity toward becoming an interstellar civilization, with a broad campaign of exploration and colonization to begin by the year 2100.

This event will be split into three days, with each day focusing on the near-term, medium-term and long-term focus necessary for the realization of this ambition.

Day 1 – Near Future (The next 20 years)

Focus on what can be feasibly realized over the next two decades. This includes interstellar precursor missions, fission-based energy generation and propulsion technology, the robotic and manned exploration of and expansion into our solar system, and the necessary social and economic blocks to see us move toward becoming an interstellar civilization. Other technologies to be discussed include solar sails, beamed energy systems, nuclear fission-based systems and novel earth-to-orbit launch systems.

Day 2 – Mid-Future Interstellar Flight (20 -50 years)

Focus on what can be accomplished on a timescale to begin 20 years from now, out to the next 50 years. Areas of interest will include fusion rockets, antimatter rockets, future economics, colonization of the solar system, asteroid mining, and commercialization of space.

Day 3 – Deep Future Interstellar Flight (50 years +)

Focus on what we can accomplish on very long timescales beginning 50 years from now and extending out to the next 500 years. Areas of interest to include the exploration and colonization of nearby star systems, the ethics of colonization, SETI and first contact scenarios, exotic propulsion, warp drives, wormholes, vacuum energy, worldships, hibernation ships and humanity’s expansion into the galaxy.

Day 4: Starship Congress—AM ceremony

Bring to closing Starship Congress 2013; final announcements, thanks, & Congress re-cap.

Algorithms are increasingly invoked as powerful entities that control, govern, sort, regulate, and shape everything from financial trades to news media. Nevertheless, the nature and implications of such orderings are far from clear. What exactly is it that algorithms “do”? What is the role attributed to “algorithms” in these arguments? How can we turn the “problem of algorithms” into an object of productive inquiry?

This conference sets out to explore the recent rise of algorithms as an object of interest in scholarship, policy, and practice. Taking a fresh view on the current wave of interest in the topic, we aim to discuss themes such as:

-the very idea of “algorithms” as a subject and object of analysis
-issues of methodology and the kind of knowledge claims that come with algorithms
-the rhetoric of problems and solutions, in which algorithms are mobilized
-questions of agency and automation
-conceptions of secrecy or inscrutability
-normative concerns
-rules and regulations surrounding development and implementation

Speakers include: Lucas Introna, Tarleton Gillespie, Evgeny Morozov, Daniel Neyland, Frank Pasquale, Claudia Perlich, Robert Tarjan as well as Mike Annany, Kate Crawford, Lisa Gitelman, Moritz Hardt, Matthew Jones, Karrie Karahalios, and Martha Poon.

The conference is free, but since space is limited we are requiring registration. We hope you’ll join us on May 16-17, 2013.

The Conference series on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction is the premier international forum for research on affective and multimodal human-machine interaction and systems.

This ACII edition will emphasize the humanistic side of affective computing by promoting publications at the cross-road between engineering and human sciences (including biological, social and cultural aspects of human life).

The ACII conference will be organized by the Computer Vision and Multimedia Laboratory and the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences from the University of Geneva. Geneva has one of Europe’s most beautiful sceneries, situated between a lake and mountains and is a highly international city where English speaking is common. It has been a cultural center for many centuries and home to many creative spirits in the fields of science and art.

The conference will address, but is not limited to, the following topics:
•    Computational and psychological models of emotion;
•    Affect in arts entertainment and multimedia;
•    Bodily manifestations of affect (facial expressions, posture, behavior, physiology);
•    Databases for emotion processing: development and issues;
•    Affective interfaces and applications (games, learning, dialogue systems…);
•    Ecological and continuous emotion assessment;
•    Affect in social interactions.

Topics
Contributions are solicited addressing, but not limited to, the following areas of interest:
* The characteristics of “natural” arguments: ontological aspects and cognitive issues.
* Personalisation and tailoring of argument to a specific audience
* Models of arguer and models of audience
* The use of models from informal logic and argumentation theory, and in particular, approaches to specific schools of thought developed in informal logic and argumentation.
* Rhetoric and affect: the role of emotions, personalities, etc. in models of argumentation.
* The linguistic characteristics of natural argumentation. Empirical work based on corpora looking at these topics would be especially welcomed.
* Natural argumentation and media: visual arguments, multi-modal arguments, spoken arguments.
* Evaluative arguments and their application in AI systems (such as decision support and advice giving).
* Applications of argumentation based systems, including, for example, the pedagogical, health-related, political, and promotional.
* Tools for interacting with structures of argument, including visualisation tools and interfaces supporting natural, stylised or formal dialogue.
* The building of computational resources such as online corpora related to argumentation.

Format:
CMNA 12 intends to provide, primarily, an informal forum for discussion, a venue to foster discussion and encourage cooperation. To facilitate this, accepted papers (by multiple reviewer blind review) are distributed to all participants in advance of the event, to improve coherence and interaction.

Attendance:
Attendance to the CMNA workshop is open to all interested in the field, as well as authors of accepted papers. Those interested to attend who have not a paper to present, are encouraged to send a brief submission of interest to the workshop chairs before the event.

MODULARITY, studied for years in software engineering, allows mechanisms for easy and flexible reuse, generalization, structuring, maintenance, design patterns, and comprehension. In formal and applied ontology, modularity is central to reducing the complexity of designing and understanding ontologies, and to facilitating ontology verification, reasoning, development, maintenance and integration.

Recent research on ontology modularity shows substantial progress in foundations of modularity, techniques of modularization and modular development, distributed reasoning and empirical evaluation. These results provide a solid foundation and exciting prospects for further research and development.

The workshop continues a series of successful events that have been an excellent venue for practitioners and researchers to discuss latest and current work. The most recent WoMOs were held at ESSLLI 2011 and FOIS/ICBO 2012. This time WoMO is organised as a workshop of LPNMR 2013: the 12th International Conference on Logic Programming and Non-monotonic Reasoning. LPNMR is well-established as the main conference in the field.

The workshop will be open to all attendants of LPMNR’13 and its workshops. Workshop speakers will be required to register for WoMO via the LPMNR’13 website. Registration for WoMO only will be possible.

TOPICS include, but are not limited to:
- What is Modularity: kinds of modules and their properties; modules vs. contexts; design patterns; granularity of representation;

- Logical/Foundational Studies: modular ontology languages; reconciling inconsistencies across modules; formal structuring of modules; heterogeneity; hybrid theories; intertheory relations (conservativity, interpretability, strong equivalence, inseparability, etc.);

- Algorithmic Approaches: distributed and incremental reasoning; modularization and module extraction; sharing, linking, reuse; privacy; complexity of reasoning; implemented systems;

- Evaluation of modularizations: case studies or other analyses of ontology modularizations (why it is modularized in a certain way, what does it address, how can it be improved); how to measure the adequacy of a modularization; comparison of modularizations with respect to philosophical, logical, reasoning, cognitive, or social aspects;

- Applications: semantic web; life sciences; earth sciences; bio-ontologies; natural language processing; space and time; ambient intelligence; social intelligence; technology and engineering; collaborative ontology development and ontology versioning.

Paper Submission Deadline: 22 April 2013

TAROS is a platform for robotics researchers with a wide range of interests from the UK, Europe and worldwide. TAROS welcomes paper submissions on a wide range of topics related to the principles and practice of robotics.

TAROS 2013 invites both full papers and extended abstracts. The proceedings will be published in the Springer Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence series. All contributions will be refereed. Full papers are invited from researchers at any stage in their career but should present significant findings and advances in robotics research; more preliminary work would be better suited to extended abstract submission. Full papers will be accepted for either oral presentation (single track) or poster presentation. Extended abstracts will be accepted for poster presentation only.

TAROS welcomes senior researchers and research students alike, and specifically provides opportunities for research students and young research scientists to present their work to the scientific community. As in previous years, all accepted papers will be included in the printed proceedings. Authors of selected papers will be invited to submit extended versions to a companion journal issue of Robotics and Autonomous Systems (TAROS-11 RAS special issue, TAROS-09 RAS special issue).

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) are sponsoring an invited public lecture (speaker tba), Springer have agreed to sponsor the best paper prize, and the British Automation and Robot Association (BARA)are sponsoring the TAROS industry day (30th August) in conjunction with the BARA Academic Forum for Robotics (AFR).

Submissions of papers are invited in, but not limited to, the following topics and related areas:

• Advanced applications of autonomous robots (industrial and research)
• Advanced materials and techniques
• Advanced medical robotics, robots for surgery, assistive robotics, Service robotics
• Applications development, hardware issues, devices and techniques, advanced sensors and actuators
• Autonomous assembly robotics, Autonomous vehicles
• Bio-mimetic and bio-inspired robotics, Bio-hybrid robotic systems, Evolutionary robotics
• Cognitive robotics, Developmental robotics, Personal robotics, Robot communication and language
• Ethical and societal issues in robotics, Robots in education, the arts and entertainment
• Flying robots (unmanned- and micro- air vehicles), Space and planetary robotics
• Humanoid robotics, Human-Robot interaction and interfaces, Legged robots
• Safety, Verification and Validation for Robotic Applications
• Swarm robotics, Collective robots, Field robotics
• Learning and adaptation, Long-term interaction and operation, Intelligent prostheses
• Modelling and analysis of robot models, Modular reconfigurable robots
• Navigation, localization, map building and path planning, Analysis of robot-environment interaction
• Robot autonomy including energy self-sufficiency, Robot control architectures, Robot vision, sensing and perception

Focus on: Spatio-Temporal Aspects of Human-Activity Interpretation

STAMI 2013 will be co-located with the Twenty-Seventh AAAI Conference (AAAI-13), Bellevue, Washington USA. July 14–18, 2013.

Submissions for STAMI 2013 are now OPEN!
Full paper submission deadline: April 7 2013 (see Dates)
Workshop date etc: tba

A wide-range of applications within the purview of Ambient Intelligence, Smart Environments, Cognitive Assistance Systems, and Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing require the ability to represent and reason about dynamic spatial phenomena. Systems concerned with observing, interpreting, and interacting in an environment populated by humans and artefacts require a formal means for representing and reasoning with spatio-temporal, event, and action driven phenomena that occur in the environment. The STAMI workshop addresses basic research questions concerned with operationalising “commonsense situational awareness” for assistive technologies within the purview of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments.

STAMI 2013 has a special focus on the topic of “Spatio-Temporal Aspects of Human Activity Interpretation”; STAMI 2013 especially welcomes research concerned with monitoring and interpretation of people interactions, real-time commonsense situational awareness involving aspects such as scene perception and understanding, perceptual data analytics, and prediction & explanation-driven high-level control of autonomous systems. In this context, basic topics deemed important include activity and process models, behaviour and intention interpretation, spatial learning, modelling and reasoning about space, events, actions, interaction, spatio-temporal dynamics, and commonsense reasoning about spatio-temporal change. Research contributions are encouraged to address use-cases from specific application areas of interest as indicated on the STAMI website. Furthermore, we especially welcome prototypical demonstrations, and value initiatives and perspectives on benchmarking and promoting open-access of algorithms and systems.

- Maria Alvarez (King’s College, London)
- Stephen Neale (City University of New York)
- Martine Nida-Rümelin (Philosophische Fakultät, Universität Freiburg)
- Peter Pagin (CLLAM, Department of Philosophy, Stockholm University)
- Josefa Toribio (ICREA, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies)

• The Centre for Bioethics and Emerging Technologies (CBET)
• Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour (AISB)

As part of the AISB Members workshop series.

Symposium Overview

Consciousness is sometimes thought to be a special attribute of humans, but what exactly do we mean by it? If we know what it is, how did it emerge (if indeed it did), and when and why? Is there a continuum between consciousness and non-consciousness? Should we distinguish between consciousness and self-consciousness in trying to answer these questions? What do fields such as philosophy, cognitive science, evolutionary psychology, palaeoanthropology, neuroscience and cognitive archaeology have to contribute to these questions? This one-day workshop brings together a multidisciplinary team to examine these issues, with opportunities for discussion.

Example Topics of Interest

• Philosophical Issues
• Computational-Philosophical Issues
• Cognition and cognitive science
• Neuroscience and neural networks
• Psychology and evolutionary psychology
  follows

The connections between logic and computing are wide-spread and varied. Well-known examples of uses of logic in computer science include

• automated verification,
• databases,
• knowledge representation,
• artificial intelligence,
• formal languages,
• etc.

Going in the opposite direction, from computer science to logic, we find

• extremely fast implementations of model checkers and tableaux-based and resolution-based theorem provers,
• automata-theoretic methods for deciding powerful languages,
• tight connections between the theories of computational and descriptive complexity,
• and so on.

And this is just a small part of a far bigger development, as logic continues to play an important role in computer science and permeating more and more of its main areas.

All signs indicate that computer science and logic have decided to establish a stronghold together and profit from the interchange of ideas.

While the links between computer science and modal logic may be viewed as nothing more than specific instances of these developments, there is something special to them. Graphs are the key. Graphs are ubiquitous in computer science: think of

• transition systems,
• parse trees,
• Petri nets,
• decision diagrams,
• flow charts,
• …

It is because of this, that modal languages are so well suited to describe computer science phenomena: Kripke models, the standard semantic structure on which modal languages are interpreted, are nothing but graphs. Of course, graphs, or more generally relational structures, are also the semantic structures of choice for other languages, including first-order logic, but from a computational point of view, modal languages have a huge advantage when compared to first-order logic: they are usually decidable.

The workshop series Methods for Modalities (M4M) aims to bring together researchers interested in developing algorithms, verification methods and tools based on modal logic. Here the term “modal logic” is conceived broadly, including description logic, guarded fragments, conditional logic, temporal and hybrid logic, etc.

To stimulate interaction and transfer of expertise, M4M will feature a number of invited talks by leading scientists, research presentations aimed at highlighting new developments, and submissions of system demonstrations. We strongly encourage young researchers and students to submit papers, especially for experimental and prototypical software tools which are related to modal logics.

ISTAS’13 presenters and panellists will address the implications of living in smartworlds – smart grids, smart infrastructure, smart homes, smart cars, smart fridges…smart people. ISTAS’13 will bring together participants sharing research, projects, and ideas about people living in smart environments. The environment around us is becoming “smarter”. Soon there will be a camera in nearly every streetlight to do better occupancy sensing and ultimately a camera in every light fixture. Many appliances and everyday products such as automatic flush toilets, faucets, and sensor-operated showers are starting to use more sophisticated camera-based computer-vision technologies.

In a world of smart things like smart lights, smart toilets, smart grids, smart meters, smart roads, and the like, what happens when you have “smart people” (i.e. put sensors on people)?

What do we make of the growing numbers of businesses like department stores and restaurants that prohibit cameras, yet display QR codes that require cameras to read and understand?

This event will facilitate the Veillances to come together in acknowledging the wearer as a camera but also the supporting infrastructure that will enable intelligent 4G applications.

Mobile Big Data
We give you a clear insight into what’s behind the most exciting products and services out there – data. We look at how services will be innovated, created and shaped by data. Come stock up on ideas for services and innovate.

Internet of Things
Kickstarter has seen much activity and show much public demand for smart, intelligent and connected devices with services that are very specific. This is also true on the industrial side. Is this what will happen when mobile meets cloud and hardware prices drop to almost nothing?

On the Shoulders of Ethnographers
Did you know the netbook category was created by an ethnographer? What other boom categories for products and services will be uncovered by ethnographers and their research? We present some of the most interesting insights into public behavior that provide indicators of where entrepreneurs should be looking next.

Networks and Cloud Services
As devices become physical “avatars” for services in the cloud we look at the relationship between emerging network architectures and technologies and the new innovative services that they will facilitate. What will the networks have to cope with as consumers demand service specific services through custom hardware?

mHealth
The ultimate poster child for the success of mobile big data is and health. We believe this sector will boom in the next 3 years and we look at the big players, therefore leadership and the technologies and market fit that will make a success.

Analytics and Products
Which came first – the data or the product? We look at how data and analytics from apps, the network and other sources are being used to birth innovative new services and products that are flying off the shelves. Data is the new plastic.

In addition to the theoretical analysis, hands-on training courses in modern technologies and presentations on current breakthroughs in ageing research will be part of the program.

ACI’s Biochemicals & Bioplastics 2013 will analyse the most promising market segments of, as well as drivers & constraints for, the bio-based chemical producers and how these compare to those of their fossil-based petrochemical counterparts. The event will address the potential growth of the biochemical industry and its impact on the petrochemical market within the forthcoming 10 years.

Today’s high oil prices and growing concerns regarding our carbon footprint are forcing the major chemical producers to seek new feedstocks from renewable sources. Thus sugar as a new “crude oil” is currently fuelling the growth of bio-based chemical industry, though there is strong competition between crops for food and the use of crops and farmland for energy purposes. Strong interest in bio-based chemicals is also supported by some endusers in the packaging industry, as they are setting new standards for renewable materials. Thus, biopolymers over the next decade will act as stable driver for the biorenewable chemicals market, while lactic acid, glycerine and derivatives will also provide significant growth. Finally the conference will address the latest technological advancements of bio-ethanol, biopolymers, lactic acid, ECH, glycerine and BDO production.

Key Topics:

• Impact of Biorenewable Chemicals on Chemical Industry: 10 Year Outlook
• Global Market Drivers & Restraints of Biorenewable Chemical Industry
• Which Are the Most Promising Market Segments and Potentional Growth Rates for the Biorenewable Chemical Industry?
• Bio-Based Feedstock Opportunities & Biomass Process Innovations
• Addressing the Latest Technological Advancements in Biorenewable Chemical Industry
• Investor Perspective of Biorenewable Chemicals

It’s far easier to predict the future when you are helping make and distribute it. Nicholas Negroponte exemplifies this with his notable accomplishments, including co-founding the MIT Media Lab, being the first investor in Wired magazine, and co-founding the One Laptop Per Child program.

His 01995 book Being Digital gave a glimpse into the world we now occupy — complete with wireless, touch screens, e-books and personalized news. In this talk, “Beyond Digital,” Negroponte will once again give us a glimpse of the possibilities that lie ahead.

7:30pm to 9:00pm PST

Sunday April 7, 10 am-5 pm
UCLA Schoenberg Hall

Conference details:
Focusing on enhancing strengths, rather than reducing deficits, creativity and the arts are uniquely able to facilitate flow, mind-body wellness, and transformation. With the growing cost of healthcare and increasing demand for preventative, patient-centered, and chronic care, it is important for future healthcare professionals and artists to be aware of effective and creative positive psychological approaches for both healing and wellness.

Conference features:
Science: Leading experts present and discuss cutting-edge research on flow, creativity, stress, and self-regulation (including psychology, neurobiology, physiological functions, and emotional processes).

Performance: The CSUN dance and opera performances will portray key themes of social justice, equity and diversity related topics (autism, political detainees, chronic illness and loss). During the performance a dancer will wear a body suit that records her physiological responses to demonstrate, in real time, dissociation and flow in performing artists.

Application: Scientific researchers will present on the social-emotional and cognitive development of autism, mental illness, and trauma as well as conventional clinical interventions; creative arts therapists will discuss how they uniquely apply the creative arts to serve these populations.

Experience: Experiential breakout creative arts therapy workshops will give the conference participants active opportunities to engage, first hand, in two creative arts therapy workshops of their choice (art therapy, dance and music therapy, poetry therapy, and drama therapy).

Keynote Presenter – Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, described Csikszentmihalyi as the world’s leading researcher on positive psychology. He is noted for his work in the study of happiness and creativity, but is best known as the architect of the notion of flow and for his years of research and writing on the topic. According to Csikszentmihalyi, people are most fulfilled when they are in a state of flow, the creative moment when a person is “completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”

Back by popular demand – A live 360 degree performance at the Vortex Dome LA this Friday. Don’t miss it!

Time: Friday, March 22, 2013
Two shows: 7:00pm and 8:30pm
Location: Vortex Dome at Los Angeles Center Studios
Organized By: Kate McCallum and Ed Lantz

Event Description:
BollyDoll, a Live Cinema Experience, is a live music and dance show based on an old Indian epic dating back to 1000 BC created by acclaimed visual artist and singer Amrita Sen and composer and electronic musician Anthony Marinelli. Uniquely presented on a 360 degree screen and stage, the show incorporates immersive animation, music, and dance to transport an audience of all ages to a distant time and space.

Authentic Indian Food served and available to purchase after the early show and before the later show provided by No Tomatoes

RECEPTION for both shows between 7:00-9:00 p.m

What the hell is Howard Bloom up to now?  Nothing.  One of the most important nothings confronting science today, he says.

Bloom is a scientific thinker who has been called “next in a lineage of seminal thinkers that includes Newton, Darwin, Einstein, [and] Freud,” by Britain’s Channel4 TV, “the next Stephen Hawking” by Gear Magazine, and “The Buckminster Fuller and Arthur C. Clarke of the new millennium” by Buckminster Fuller’s archivist Bonnie de Varco.

And he is about to blitz Boston, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Los Angeles with a book talk  that has blasted minds at places like the Harvard Coop and the Columbia University Bookstore.  Bloom is discussing his latest book, The God Problem: How A Godless Cosmos Creates.  And more.  Or is it less?

Bloom’s 46-minute God Problem talk has generated after-talk dialogs that have lasted from three hours to nearly seven hours.  At Brooklyn’s Body Actualized Center, for example, Bloom’s God Problem performance was up against the opening night of the Rolling Stones’ 50^th Anniversary Tour at the nearby Barclay Center.  Yet Bloom packed the place.  And the audience insisted on staying and dialoging from 7 pm to an astonishing 1:45 am in the morning.

Why?  Bloom tries to get across a scientific mystery.  A mystery right under science’s nose.  Take science’s most often-used metaphor, the wave.  A wave generated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean travels over five thousand miles to reach the coast of Japan.  And it retains a visible identity the entire way.

What’s more, it can have enormous power.  If it is a tsunami, it can sweep entire parking lots of cars and villages of homes in, let’s say Fukushima, away.  In fact the wave can wipe out as many as 16,000 lives.  Or 230,000 lives in the case of the tsunami that hit Indonesia in 2004.

And yet, says Bloom, the wave doesn’t exist.  It is a nothing.  A no thing.

Surely that’s absurd.  The relatives of the victims of the tsunamis in Fukushima and Indonesia will tell you just how real a wave is.  But, says, Bloom, imagine you are a molecule of water in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  How do you spend your time?  You bob up and down.  You circle in place.  When you bob up to the top, you help make the peak of a wave.  When you bob below the surface, you make that wave’s trough.

But here’s the weird part.  When you circle back to the surface the second time, you make the peak of yet another wave.  Yes, another wave.  A wave with yet another identity.  A wave whose impact on the shore may have its own, separate consequences.

So what travels the miles from a seabed-quake zone to the shores of Fukushima?  Nothing.  No thing.  No water molecule makes that trip.  What, then, crushes homes in Fukushima and carries their remains inland?  Says Bloom, an immaterial pattern does that damage.  A pattern that picks up recruits in one spot, grabs them in a fist, then abandons them and picks up new recruits.  An immaterial pattern that somehow manages to maintain its shape, its form, its identity.  A pattern that accomplishes this despite its utter promiscuousness about the matter it musters; the matter it seduces, kidnaps, recruits, and organizes; the matter it momentarily contains,,,and then abandons.

Bloom shows you the power of a wild variety of these nothings, these no-things.  Why? To make you think.  To immerse you in science’s next big questions.  And to hopefully make you part of the answer.

What is Bloom’s God Problem tour about?  The power of nothings.  One of the most mind-stumping and important powers in this cosmos.

Itinerary:

3/23 7 pm EnlightenNext, Studio Soto, Channel Center St, Boston, MA 02210

3/28th 6 pm Elliott Bay Books, 1521 Tenth Avenue Seattle, WA 98122

3/30th 7:15 pm Live Wire Radio, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Portland Or, Alberta Rose Theatre,  3000 NE Alberta St,  Portland, OR 97211, (503) 719-6055

3/31 7:30 pm Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, OR, 97209

4/2 Stanford University Bookstore, 519 Lasuen Mall Stanford, CA, 94305

4/3 Books Inc. in Opera Plaza, 601 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102

4/4 University of Southern California Bookstore, 840 W 36th Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90089

AIMSC official language is English, which will be used in every session of the congress with no simultaneous translation or interpretation.

Ain-shams International Medical Students’ Congress (AIMSC), have been held by Ain-shams University since February 1992 by the late professor Ali Kalifa, for ver the past 20 Februarys of the past 20 years. AIMSC is considered one of the most prestegious and oldest medical students’ Congresses in the world; and for more than two decades now it have been brining medical student from all over the world; giving them the chance to present their scientific work in front of their own peers and a renowned jury of professors.

We have perfected our stand among medical congresses, with perfect balance of our scientific program, social program, luxurious accommodation and meticulous organization, topped with our post congress tour making the AIMSC experience an unforgettable one.

AIMSC welcomes all medical and bio-medical students, young doctors’ professors and lecturers to attend our event and present their work, we also welcome passive participation.

All accepted papers will appear in conference proceedings published by the Springer’s LNCS/LNAI/CCIS, and will indexed by EI Compendex and ISTP. Selected good papers will appear in “Journal of Computational Information Systems” or “Journal of Information and Computation Science”–EI Compendex indexed international journals. Selected best papers will appear in SCI-indexed journal(s).

The 2013 Congress will be composed of research presentations, keynote lectures, invited presentations, tutorials, panel discussions, and poster presentations. In recent past, keynote/tutorial/panel speakers have included: Prof. David A. Patterson (pioneer, architecture, U. of California, Berkeley), Dr. K. Eric Drexler (known as Father of Nanotechnology), Prof. John H. Holland (known as Father of Genetic Algorithms; U. of Michigan), Prof. Ian Foster (known as Father of Grid Computing; U. of Chicago & ANL), Prof. Ruzena Bajcsy (pioneer, VR, U. of California, Berkeley), Prof. Barry Vercoe (Founding member of MIT Media Lab, MIT), Dr. Jim Gettys (known as X-man, developer of X Window System, xhost; OLPC), Prof. John Koza (known as Father of Genetic Programming, Stanford U.), Prof. Brian D. Athey (NIH Program Director, U. of Michigan), Prof. Viktor K. Prasanna (pioneer, U. of Southern California), Dr. Jose L. Munoz (NSF Program Director and Consultant), Prof. Jun Liu (pioneer, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard U.), Prof. Lotfi A. Zadeh (Father of Fuzzy Logic), Dr. Firouz Naderi (Head, NASA Mars Exploration Program/2000-2005 and Associate Director, Project Formulation & Strategy, Jet Propulsion Lab, CalTech/NASA; Director, NASA’s JPL Solar System Exploration), Prof. David Lorge Parnas (Fellow of IEEE, ACM, RSC, CAE, GI; Dr.h.c.: ETH Zurich, Prof. Emeritus, McMaster U. and U. of Limerick), Prof. Eugene H. Spafford (Executive Director, CERIAS and Professor, Purdue University), Dr. Sandeep Chatterjee (Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, SourceTrace Systems, Inc.), Prof. Haym Hirsh (Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA and former director of Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, National Science Foundation, USA), Dr. Flavio Villanustre (Vice- President, HPCC Systems), and many other distinguished speakers. To get a feeling about the Congress’s atmosphere, see delegates photos from past events available at: http://worldcomp.phanfare.com/

An important mission of the Congress is “Providing a unique platform for a diverse community of constituents composed of scholars, researchers, developers, educators, and practitioners. The Congress makes concerted effort to reach out to participants affiliated with diverse entities (such as: universities, institutions, corporations, government agencies, and research centers/labs) from all over the world. The Congress also attempts to connect participants from institutions that have teaching as their main mission with those who are affiliated with institutions that have research as their main mission. The Congress uses a quota system to achieve its institution and geography diversity objectives.”

One main goal of the Congress is to assemble a spectrum of affiliated research conferences, workshops, and symposiums into a coordinated research meeting held in a common place at a common time. This model facilitates communication among researchers in different fields of computer science, computer engineering, and applied computing. The Congress also encourages multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research initiatives; ie, facilitating increased opportunities for cross-fertilization across sub-disciplines.