The biological applications of engineering, or bioengineering, is the topic of the 1997 Cornell Society of Engineers annual conference April 10-12 at Cornell.
Featuring Richard A. Hazleton, chairman and CEO of Dow Corning Corp., and Samuel Fleming, chairman and CEO of Decision Resources Inc., the conference "Frontiers in Bioengineering" will highlight research in the rapidly developing field. Featured will be speakers from the Cornell faculty and from industry.
Hazleton, the Dow chairman who arrived there in the midst of the silicone breast implant controversy, will give the keynote address, "Science, Public Policy and Ethics in Biomaterials," at a dinner beginning at 7:15 p.m. Friday in the Statler Hotel Terrace Restaurant. Hazelton has appeared frequently on national television and has testified before Congress on the silicone breast implant controversy.
The conference kicks off with a talk at 9:25 a.m. Friday, "The Commercial Impact of Biotechnology: What's in Store for the Next 10 Years" by Samuel Fleming (Chem. Eng. '62), chairman and CEO of Decision Resources Inc. His firm, formerly a subsidiary of Arthur D. Little Inc., provides international market forecasting and evaluation for health care, information technology and process industries.
"Bioengineering is the next great frontier for engineers. Increasingly, biological systems are being used to produce new materials and engineers are learning how to intervene in biological processes," said Karl Miller (Elec. Eng. '64), conference co-chair.
The conference features workshops on the biotechnology industry and financing, research presentations by Cornell faculty working in bioengineering-related projects and tours of engineering research centers and laboratories. The program is sponsored by the College of Engineering and the Cornell Society of Engineers.
Friday's events begin at 9:15 a.m. with sessions in the fourth floor computer training room in Rhodes Hall.
From noon to 1:30 p.m. Friday, John Hopcroft, the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering, will give a luncheon status report, "Educational and Research Program in the College of Engineering," followed by a talk on "Bioengineering at Cornell" by Michael Shuler, the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Chemical Engineering and director of Cornell's Bioengineering Program, both in the Biotechnology Building.
Saturday's program features a panel discussion at 9:15 a.m. in Room 101 of Phillips Hall on "Biomedical Ethics and Morals," chaired by Larry Palmer, Cornell professor of law.
For registration information, contact Jeanne Subialka, conference registrar, at 255-9920, or <jms20@cornell.edu>. Information and a registration form also are available on the World Wide Web at http://www.engr.cornell.edu/Newsline/Newsline.html. Registration is $99 and includes all sessions and meals. The fee for Cornell faculty, staff and students is waived, although meals are extra.