Neal Lane, director of the National Science Foundation and a physicist by training, will be among the key speakers at the 50th anniversary celebration of Cornell's School of Applied and Engineering Physics (A&EP) on Sept. 20 and 21.
Lane, former provost at Rice University, will join Cornell President Hunter Rawlings; Paul Horn, senior vice president, research, IBM; and Gerold Yonas, vice president, information and pulsed power research and technology, Sandia National Laboratories, in addressing a symposium in honor of the school on Friday morning, Sept. 20. Talks at the symposium, "Challenges and Opportunities for the 21st Century," are free and open to the public. They will take place in Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall, beginning on Friday.
Leaders in various aspects of applied and engineering physics from around the country will share with participants cutting-edge developments and describe the state of research in their fields in a session called "New Frontiers in Applied Physics" beginning at 1:30 p.m. Friday, also in Schwartz Auditorium.
Cornell President Emeritus Dale Corson, who was an early member of the A&EP faculty and then dean of the College of Engineering during some of the important years of the development of the program, will give an address at the Friday evening banquet at the Triphammer Lodge and Conference Center, starting at 6:30 p.m. Also scheduled to speak is an alumnus of the school, Naren Shankar '84, Ph.D. '90, producer and writer of The Outer Limits, whose credits include Star Trek: The Next Generation. A registration fee is required for the banquet.
Applied and engineering physics is an academic discipline in which students learn real-world engineering applications of physics and mathematics. Research covers a vast array of technology and science, including, for example, high-temperature superconductor devices for cellular transmitters and satellite communications, biomedical imaging and biophysics, optical devices and nanotechnology, solid state physics, plasma physics for energy production, scientific instrumentation and lasers.
"Research in our school is designed to advance technology and its applications to the world," said Robert A. Buhrman, professor of applied and engineering physics and director of the school.
"Rigorous training prepares students for a variety of technical achievements in industry and academia. This is more than building the storehouse of knowledge, which by itself is important; it's looking into the science that has applications in technology and in the economic marketplace," he said.
Applied and engineering physics is an interdisciplinary field. Faculty associated with the school may have expertise in physics, mathematics, electrical engineering, materials science, chemical engineering, chemistry and biology, among other areas. The school's faculty members were instrumental in starting several of Cornell's current research centers, including the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, the Materials Science Center and the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility.
To register for the symposium or for additional information, call Lorraine Hollister at 255-0639.